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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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John Montgomery Ward 



BASE-BAI^L^ 



HOW TO BECOME A PLAYER 



WITH THE 



Ol^IGIN, r?ISniOF?Y, AND GXPLAKATION OP JPHB 

Game 



^^'^ Washing 



JOHN MONTGOMERY WARD 

OF THE 

Ne:\?v York: Ba sec-Ball Club. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



PHILADELPHIA 

THE ATHLETIC PUBLISHING COMPANY 

No. 1 1 24 Arch Street 

1888 



e,v?^.(o7 



Copyright, 1888, ey John Montgomery Ward. 



0^'^'" 



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PREFACE. 



The author ventures to present this book to the pub- 
lic, because he believes there are many points in the 
game of base-ball which can be told only by a player. 
He has given some space to a consideration of the origin 
and early history of the game, because they are subjects 
deserving of more attention than is generally accorded 
them. 

His principal aim, however, has been to produce a 
hand-book of the game, a picture of the play as seen by 
a player. In many of its branches, base-ball is still in 
its infancy ; even in the actual play there are yet many 
unsettled points, and the opinions of experts differ upon 
important questions. The author has been as accurate 
as the nature of the subject would permit, and, though 
claiming no especial consideration for his ow^n opinions, 
he thinks they will coincide in substance with those of 
the more experienced and intelligent players. 

To Messrs. A. H. Wright, Henry Chadwick, Harry 
Wright, and James Whyte Davis, for materials of refer- 
ence, and to Goodwin & Co., the Scientific American, 
and A. J. Reach, for engravings and cuts, acknowledg- 
ments are gratefully made. 

John M. Ward. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

PAGB. 

An Inquiry into the Origin of Base-Ball, with a Brief 
Sketch of its History 9 

CHAPTER I. 
Theory of the Game — A Chapter for the Ladies . . 34 

CHAPTER II. 
Training . , • . • 41 

CHAPTER III. 
The Pitcher 46 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Catcher 65 

CHAPTER V. 
The First Baseman 78 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Second Baseman 84 

vii 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

•AGE. 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Third Baseman 92 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The Short-Stop 97 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Left-Fielder 109 

CHAPTER X. 
The Centre-Fielder 113 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Right-Fielder 116 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Batter 119 

CHAPTER XIII. 

»The Base-Runner 129 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Curve Pitching 144 



\ 



INTRODUCTION. 

An Inquiry into thk Origin of Bask-BaIvL, with a 
Brief Sketch of its History. 



/ It may or it may not be a serious reflection upon 
the accuracy of history that the circumstances 
of the invention of the first ball are enveloped 
in some doubt. Herodotus attributes it to the 
lyydians, but several other writers unite in con- 
ceding to a certain beautiful lady of Corcyra, 
Anagalla by name, the credit of first having 
made a ball for the purpose of pastime. Sev- 
eral passages in Homer rather sustain this latter 
view, and, therefore, with the weight of evidence, 
and to the glory of woman, we, too, shall adopt this 
theory. Anagalla did not apply for letters patent, 
but, whether from goodness of heart or inability to 
keep a secret, she lost no time in making known her 
invention and explaining its uses. Homer, then, 

relates how 

'' O'er the green mead the sporting virgins play, 
Their shining veils unbound; along the skies, 
Tost and retost, the ball incessant flies." 

And this is the first ball game on record, though 
it is perhaps unnecessary to say that it was not yet 
base-ball. 

9 



10 BASK-BAI,!,. 

No other single accident has ever been so produc- 
l:ive of games as that invention. From the day 
when the Phaeacian maidens started the ball rolling 
down to the present time, it has been continuously 
in motion, and as long as children love play and 
adults feel the need of exercise and recreation, it 
will continue to roll. It has been known in all 
lands, and at one time or another been popular with 
all peoples. The Greeks and the Romans were 
great devotees of ball-play ; China was noted for her 
players ; in the courts of Italy and France, we are 
told, it was in especial favor, and Fitz-Stephen, writ- 
ing in the 13th century, speaks of the London school- 
boys playing at '' the celebrated game of ball.*' 

For many centuries no bat w^as known, but in those 
games requiring the ball to be struck, the hand alone 
was used. In France there was early played a 
species of hand-ball. To protect the hands thongs 
were sometimes bound about them, and this eventu- 
ally furnished the idea of the racquet. Strutt thinks 
a bat was first used in golf, cambuc, or bandy ball. 
This was similar to the boys' game of '' shinny," or, 
as it is now more elegantly known, ** polo," and the 
bat used was bent at the end, just as now. The first 
straight bats were used in the old English game 
called club ball. This was simply '' fungo hitting, " 
in which one pla3^er tossed the ball in the air and hit 
it, as it fell, to others who caught it, or sometimes it 
was pitched to him by another player. 

Concerning the origin of the American game of 
base-ball there exists considerable uncertaint}'. A 
correspondent of Porter' s Spirit of the Times ^ as far 
back as 1856, begins a series of letters on the game 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 11 

by acknowledging his utter inability to arrive at any 
satisfactory conclusion upon this point ; and a writer 
of recent date introduces a research into the histor}^ 
of the game with the frank avowal that he has only 
succeeded in finding ' ' a remarkable lack of litera- 
ture on the subject." 

In view of its extraordinary growth and popu- 
larity as '' Our National Game," the author deems it 
important that its true origin should, if possible, be as- 
certained, and he has, therefore, devoted to this inquiry 
more space than might at first seem necessary. 

In 1856, within a dozen years from the time of the 
systematization of the game, the number of clubs, 
in the metropolitan district and the enthusiasm 
attending their matches began to attract particular 
attention. The fact became apparent that it was 
surely superseding the English game of cricket, and 
the adherents 01 the lattter game looked with ill- 
concealed jealousy on the rising upstart. There w^ere 
then, as now, persons who believed that everything 
good and beautiful in the world must be of English 
origin, and these at once felt the need of a pedigree 
for the new game. Some one of them discovered 
that in certain features it resembled an English game 
called ''rounders," and immediately it was an- 
nounced to the American public that base-ball was 
only the English game transposed. This theory was 
not admitted by the followers of the new game, but, 
unfortunately, they were not in a position to empha- 
size the denial. One of the strongest advocates of 
the rounder theory, an Englishman-born himself, 
was the writer for out-door sports on the principal 
metropolitan publications. In this capacity and as 



12 BASE-BALL. 

the author of a number of independent works of his 
own, and the writer of the ' ' base-ball ' ' articles in sev- 
eral encyclopedias and books of sport, he has lost no 
opportunity to advance his pet theory. Subsequent 
writers have, blindly, it would seem, followed this 
lead, until now we find it asserted on every hand as 
a fact established by some indisputable evidence ; 
and yet there has never been adduced a particle of 
proof to support this conclusion. 

While the author of this work entertains the great- 
est respect for that gentleman, both as a journalist 
and man, and believes that base-ball owes to him a 
monument of gratitude for the brave fight he has 
always made against the enemies and abuses of the 
game, he yet considers this point as to the game's 
origin worthy of further investigation, and he still 
regards it as an open question. 

When was base-ball first played in America ? 

The first contribution which in any way refers to 
the antiquity of the game is the first official report 
of the '' National Association" in 1858. This de- 
clares ' ' The game of base-ball has long- been a favor- 
ite and popular recreation in this country, but it is 
07tfy within the last fifteen years that any attempt 
has been made to systematize and regulate the 
game. ' ' The italics are inserted to call attention to 
the fact that in the memory of the men of that day 
base-ball had been played a long time prior to 1845, 
so long that the fifteen years of systematized play 
was referred to b}^ an " only." 

Colonel Jas. Lee, elected an honorary member of the 
Knickerbocker Club in 1846, said that he had often 
pla37^ed the same game when a bo}^ and at that time 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 13 

lie was a man of sixty or more years. Mr. Wm. F. 
Ladd , my informant, one of the original members of 
the Knickerbockers, says that he never in any way 
doubted Colonel I^ee's declaration, because he was a 
gentleman eminently worthy of belief. 

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, several years since, 
said to the reporter of a Boston paper that base-ball 
was one of the sports of his college days at Harvard, 
and Dr. Holmes graduated in 1829. 

Mr. Charles De Bost, the catcher and captain of 
the old Knickerbockers, played base-ball on Long 
Island fifty years ago, and it was the same game 
which the Knickerbockers afterward played. 

In the absence of any recorded proof as to the 
antiquity of the game, testimony such as the fore- 
going becomes important, and it might be multiplied 
to an unlimited extent. 

Another noticeable point is the belief in the minds 
of the game's first organizers that they were deal- 
ing with a purely American production, and the 
firmness of this conviction is evidenced by every- 
thing they said and did. An examination of the 
speeches and proceedings of the conventions, of 
articles in the daily and other periodical publications,'^ 
of the poetry which the game at that early day in- 
spired, taken in connection with the declarations of 
members of the first clubs still living, will show this 
vein of belief running all the way through. The 
idea that base-ball owed its origin to any foreign 
game was not only not entertained, but indignantly 
repudiated by the men of that time ; and in pursuing 
his investigations the writer has discovered that this 
feeling still exists in a most emphatic form. 



14 BAvSK-BAIX. 

In view of the foregoing we may safely say that 
base-ball was played in America as early, at least, 
as the beginning of this century. 

It may be instructive now to inquire as to the an- 
tiquity of the ' ' old English game ' ' from which base- 
ball is said to have sprung. Deferring for the pre- 
sent the consideration of its resemblance to base-ball, 
what proof have we of its venerable existence? 
Looking, primarily; to Wm^ first editions of ^/^ English 
authorities on out-door sports, I have been unable to 
find any record that such a game as ''rounders" 
was known. I may have been unfortunate in my 
searches, for, though I have exhausted every avail- 
able source of information, I have not discovered 
any mention of it. 

The first standard English writer to speak of 
rounders is ' ' Stonehenge ' ' in his Manual of Sports, 
lyondon, 1 856. Since then almost every English work 
on out-door sports describes the ' ' old [with an empha- 
sis] English game of rounders," and in the same 
connection declares it to be the germ of the American 
base-ball ; and yet, curiously enough, not one of 
them gives us any authority even for dubbing it 
* ' old, ' ' much less for calling it the origin of our game. 
But in 1856 base-ball had been played here for many 
years ; it had already attracted attention as the popular 
sport, and by i860 w^as known in slightly differing 
forms all over the country. To all these later English 
writers, therefore, its existence and general principles 
must have been familiar, and it is consequently re- 
markable that, in view of their claim, they have 
given us no more particulars of the game of rounders. 
Are we to accept this assertion without reserve, when 



ORIGIN AND HIvSTORY. 15 

an investigation would seem to indicate that base- 
ball is really the older game ? If this English game 
was then a common school-boy sport, as now claimed, 
it seems almost incredible that it should have escaped 
the notice of all the writers of the first half of the 
century ; and yet no sooner does base-ball become 
famous as the American game than English writers 
discover that there is an old and popular English 
game from which it is descended. Many of the 
games which the earlier writers describe are ex- 
tremely simple as compared with rounders, and yet 
the latter game is entirely overlooked ! 

But upon what ground have these later writers 
based their assumption? Many, doubtless, have 
simply followed the writings from this side of the 
Atlantic ; others have been misled by their ignorance 
of the actual age of our game, for there are even 
many Americans who think base -ball was introduced 
by the Knickerbocker and following clubs ; a few, 
with the proverbial insular idea, have concluded that 
base-ball must be of English origin, if for no other 
reason, because it ought to be. 

It is not my intention to declare the old game of 
rounders a myth. There is ample living testimony 
to its existence as early perhaps as 1830, but that it 
was a popular English game before base-ball was 
played here I am not yet read}^ to believe. Before 
we accept the statement that base-ball is *'only a 
species of glorified rounders," we should demand 
some proof that the latter is really the older game. 
In this connection it will be important to remember 
that there were two English games called "round- 
ers,'' but entirely distinct the one from the other. 



16 BASK-BAI.I.. 

\ Johnson's Dictionary, edition of 1876, describes the 
' first, and presumably the older, as similar to ^ ' fives ' * 
or hand-ball, while the second is the game supposed 
to be allied to base-ball. '* Fives '' is one of the 
oldest of games, and if it or a similar game was 
called ''rounders," it will require something more 
than the mere occurrence of the name in sotne 
old writing to prove that the game referred to is the 
*' rounders " as now played. And if this cannot be 
shown, why might we not claim, with as much 
reason as the other theory has been maintained, that 
the ''old English game of rounders " is onl}^ a poor 
imitation of the old^r American game of base-ball ? 

Up to this point we have waived the question of 
resemblance between the two games, but let us now 
inquire what are the points of similarity. 

Are these, after all, so striking as to warrant the 
assumption that one game was derived from the 
other, no matter which may be shown to be the 
older ? In each there are " sides ;" the ball is tossed 
to the striker, who hits it with a bat ; he is out if the 
ball so hit is caught ; he runs to different bases in 
succession and may be put out if hit by the ball when 
between the bases. But with this the resemblance 
ceases. In base-ball nine men constitute a side, 
while in rounders there may be any number over 
three. In base-ball there are four bases (including the 
home), and the field is a diamond. In rounders the 
bases are five in number and the field a pentagon in 
shape. There is a fair and foul hit in base-ball, 
while in rounders no such thing is known. In round- 
. ers if a ball is struck at and missed, or if hit so that 
it falls back of the striker, he is out, while in base- 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 17 

ball the ball must be missed three times and the 
third one caught in order to retire the striker ; and 
a foul, unless caught like any other ball, has no 
effect and is simply declared ' ' dead. ' ' In round- 
ers the score is reckoned by counting one for each base 
made, and some of the authorities say the run is 
completed when the runner has reached the base 
next on the left of the one started from. In base-ball 
one point is scored only when the runner has made 
every base in succession and returned to the one 
from which he started. In rounders every player on 
the side must be put out before the other side can 
come in, while in base-ball from time immemorial 
the rule has been ' ' three out, all out. ' ' The distinc- 
tive feature of rounders, and the one which gives it 
its name, is that when all of a side except two have 
been retired, one of the two remaining may call for 
*' the rounder ;" that is, he is allowed three hits at 
the ball, and if in any one of these he can make the 
entire round of the bases, all the players of his side 
are reinstated as batters. No such feature as this 
was ever heard of in base-ball, yet, as said, it is the 
characteristic which gives to rounders its name, and 
any derivation of that game must certainly have pre- 
served it. 

If the points of resemblance were confined solely to 
these two games it would prove nothing except that 
boys' ideas as well as men's often run in the same 
channels. The very ancient game of bandy ball has 
its double in an older Persian sport, and the records 
of literary and mechanical invention present some 
curious coincidences. But, as a matter of fact, every 
point common to these two games was known and 
2 



18 BASK-BALi.. 

used long before in other popular sports. That the 
ball was tossed to the bat to be hit was true of a 
number of other games, among which were club 
ball, tip cat, and cricket ; in both of the latter and 
also in stool ball bases were run, and in tip cat, a 
game of much greater antiquity than either base-ball 
or rounders, the runner was out if hit by the ball 
w^hen between bases. In all of these games the 
striker was out if the ball when hit was caught. In- 
deed, a comparison will show that there are as many 
features of base-ball common to cricket or tip cat as 
there are to rounders. 

In view, then, of these facts, that the points of sim- 
ilarity are not distinctive, and that the points of dif- 
ference are decidedly so, I can see no reason in anal- 
ogy to say that one game is descended from the other, 
no matter which may be shown to be the older. 

There was a game known in some parts of this 
country fifty or more years ago called town-ball. 
In 1 83 1 a club was regularly organized in Philadel- 
phia to play the game, and it is recorded that the 
first day for practice enough members were not pres- 
ent to make up town-ball, and so a game of ''two- 
old-cat ' ' was played. This town-ball was so nearly 
like rounders that one must have been the prototype 
of the other, but town-ball and base-ball were two 
very different, games. When this same town-ball 
club decided in i860 to adopt base-ball instead, many 
of its principal members resigned, so great was the 
enmity to the latter game. Never, until recently, 
was the assertion made that base-ball w^as a develop- 
ment of town-ball, and it could not have been done 
had the writers looked up at all the historical facts. 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 19 

The latest attempt to fasten an English tab on the 
American game is noteworthy. Not content to 
stand by the theory that our game is sprung from 
the English rounders, it is now intimated that base- 
ball itself, the same game and under the same name, 
is of English origin. To complete the chain, it is 
now only necessary for some English writer to tell 
us that ' ^ in 1 845 a number of English gentlemen so- 
journing in New York organized a club called the 
Knickbockers, and introduced to Americans the old 
English game of base-ball." This new departure 
has not yet gained much headway, but it must be 
noticed on account of the circumstances of its ap- 
pearance. 

The edition of Cha^nbers' Encyclopedia just out, in 
its article on ' ' base-ball ' ' says that the game was 
mentioned in Miss AustevL s Northanger Abbey , writ- 
ten about 1798, and leaves us to infer that it was the 
same game that we now know by that name. It was 
not necessary to go into the realm of fiction to find 
this ancient use of the name. A writer to the Lon- 
don Times in 1874 pointed out that in 1748 the/ami/y 
of Frederick, Prince of Wales, were represented as 
engaged in a game of base-ball. Miss Austen re- 
fers to base-ball as played by the daughters of ' ' Mrs. 
Morland," the eldest of whom was fourteen. In 
Blaine's Rural Sports, I^ondon, 1852, in an intro- 
duction to ball games in general, occurs this pas- 
sage : * ' There are few of us of either sex but have 
engaged in base-ball since our majority." Whether 
in all these cases the same gam^e was meant matters 
not, and it is not established by the mere identity of 
names. '^Base," as meaning a place of safety, 



20 BASH- BALI.. 

dates its origin from the game of ' ' prisoners' base ' ' 
long before anything in the shape of base-ball or 
rounders ; so that any game of ball in which bases 
were a feature would likely be known by that name. 
The fact that in the three instances in which we find 
the name mentioned it is always a game for girls or 
women, would justify the suspicion that it was not 
always the same game, and that it in any way re- 
sembled our game is not to be imagined. Base-ball 
in its mildest form is essentially a robust game, and 
it would require an elastic imagination to conceive of 
little girls possessed of physical powers such as its 
play demands. 

Besides, if the English base-ball of 1748, 1798, and 
1852 were the same as our base-bajl we would have 
been informed of that fact long ago, and it would 
never have been necessary to attribute the origin of 
our game to rounders. And when, in 1874, the 
American players were introducing base-ball to Eng- 
lishmen, the patriotic Britain would not have said, 
as he then did, that our game was ' ' only rounders 
with the rounder left out, ' ' but he would at once have 
told us that base-ball itself was an old English game. 

But this latest theory is altogether untenable and 
only entitled to consideration on account of the 
authority under which it is put forth. 

In a little book called Jolly Games for Happy 
Homes ^ Eondon, 1875, dedicated to ''wee little 
babies and grown-up ladies,'' there is described a 
game called ''base-ball." It is very similar in its 
essence to our game and is probably a reflection of it. 
It is played by a number of girls in a garden or 
field. Having chosen sides, the "leader" of the 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 21 

* ' out ' ' side tosses the ball to one of the ' ' ins, ' ' who 
strikes it with her hand and then scampers for the 
trees, posts, or other objects previously designated as 
bases. Having recovered the ball, the ''scouts," or 
those on the '' outs," give chase and try to hit the 
fleeing one at a time when she is between bases. 
There must be some other means, not stated, for 
putting out the side ; the ability to throw a ball with 
accuracy is vouchsafed to few girls, and if the change 
of innings depended upon this, the game, like a 
Chinese play, would probably never end. It is de- 
scribed, however, as a charming pastime, and, not- 
withstanding its simplicity, is doubtless a modern 
English conception of our National Game. 

To recapitulate briefly, the assertion that base-ball 
is descended from rounders is a pure assumption, un- 
supported even by proof that the latter game ante- 
dates the former and unjustified by any line of 
reasoning based upon the likeness of the games. The 
other attempt to declare base-ball itself an out-and- 
out English game is scarcely worthy of serious con- 
sideration. 

But if base-ball is neither sprung from rounders 
nor taken bodily from another English game, what 
is its origin ? I believe it to be a fruit of the inventive 
genius of the American boy. I^ike our system of 
government, it is an American evolution, and while, 
like that, it has doubtless been affected by foreign 
associations, it is none the less distinctively our own. 
Place in the hands of youth a ball and bat, and they 
will invent games of ball, and that these will be 
affected by other familiar games and in many respects 
resemble them, goes without sa3dng. 



22 • BASK-BAI.I.. 

The tradition among the earUest players of the 
game now living, is that the root from which came 
our present base-ball was the old-time American 
game of ' ' cat ball. ' ' This was the original American 
ball game, and the time when it was not played here 
is beyond the memory of living man. There were 
two varieties of the game, the first called "one-old- 
cat," or one-cornered-cat, and the other '' two-old- 
cat." 

In one-old-cat there were a batter, pitcher, catcher, 
and fielders. There were no " sides," and generally 
no bases to run, but in every other respect the game 
was like base-ball. The batter was out if he missed 
three times and the third strike was caught, or if the 
ball when hit was caught on the fly or first bound. 
When the striker was ' * put out ' ' the catcher wer^t 
in to bat, the pitcher to catch, and the first fielder to 
pitch, and so on again when the next striker was 
retired. The order of succession had been estab- 
lished when the players went on the field by each 
calling out a number, as "one," "two," "three," 
etc. , one being the batter, two the catcher, three the 
pitcher, four the first fielder, etc. Thus, each in 
order secured his turn "at bat," the coveted position. 
Sometimes, when the party was larger, more than 
one striker was allowed, and in that case, not only to 
give the idle striker something to do, but to offer ex- 
tra chances for putting him out, one or more bases 
were laid out, and having hit the ball he was forced 
to run to these. If he could be hit with the ball at 
any time when he was between bases he was out, and 
he was forced to be back to the striker's position in 
time to take his turn at bat. This made him take 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 23 

chances in running. No count was kept of runs. 
Two-old-cat differed from one-old-cat in having two 
batters at opposite stations, as in the old English 
stool-ball and the more modern cricket, while the 
fielders divided so that half faced one batter and half 
the other. 

From one-old-cat to base-ball is a short step. It 
was only necessary to choose sides, and then the 
count of runs made by each would form the natural 
test of superiority. That base-ball actually did de- 
velop in this way was the generally accepted theory 
for many years. 

In 1869 an article in The Nation, from A. H. 
Sedgwick, commenting upon the features of base- 
ball and cricket as exemplifying national character- 
istics, said: "To those other objectors who would 
contend that our explanation supposes a gradual 
modification of the English into the American game, 
while it is a matter of common learning that the 
latter is of no foreign origin but the lineal descendant 
of that favorite of boyhood, * two-old-cat, ' we would 
say that, fully agreeing with them as to the historical 
fact, we have always believed it to be so clear as not 
to need further evidence, and that for the purposes of 
this article the history of the matter is out of place.'* 

Without going further into a consideration that 
might be greatly prolonged, I reassert my belief that 
our national game is a home production. In the 
field of out-door sports the American boy is easily 
capable of devising his own amusements, and until 
some proof is adduced that base-ball is not his in- 
vention I protest against this systematic effort to rob. 
him of his dues. 



24 BASK-BAXI.. 

The recorded history of the game may be briefly 
sketched ; it is not the object here to give a succinct 
history : 

In 1845 a number of gentlemen who had been in 
the habit, for several years, of playing base-ball for 
recreation, determined to form themselves into a 
permanent organization under the name of * * The 
Knickerbocker Club. ' ' They drew up a Constitution 
and By-laws, and scattered through the latter are to 
be found the first written rules of the game. They 
little thought that that beginning would develop into 
the present vast system of organized base-ball. They 
were guilty of no crafty changes of any foreign game; 
there was no incentive for that. They recorded the 
rules of the game as the}^ remembered them from 
boyhood and as they found them in vogue at that 
time. For six years the club played regularly at the 
Elysian Field, the two nines being made up from all 
the members present. From 1851 other clubs began 
to be organized, and we find the Washington, Goth- 
am (into which the Washington was merged). Eagle, 
Empire, Putnam, Baltic, Union, Mutual, Excelsior, 
Atlantic, Eckford, and many other clubs following 
in the space of a few years. 

In Philadelphia town-ball was the favorite pastime 
and kept out base-ball for some time, while in Bos- 
ton the local ''New England game," as played by 
the Olympic, Elm Tree, and Green Mountain Clubs, 
deferred the introduction of base-ball, or, as it was 
called, ^' the New York game," until 1857. 

Base-ball grew rapidly in favor ; the field was ripe. 
.America needed a live out-door sport, and this game 
exactly suited the national temperament. It required 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 25 

all the manly qualities of activity, endurance, pluck, 
and skill peculiar to cricket, and was immeasurably 
superior to that game in exciting features. There 
were dash, spirit, and variety, and it required only a 
couple of hours to play a game. Developed by 
American brains, it was fitted to us, and we took to 
it with all the enthusiasm peculiar to our nature. 

In. 1857 ^ convention of delegates from sixteen 
clubs located in and around New York and Brook- 
lyn was held, and a uniform set of rules drawn up to 
govern the play of all the clubs. 

In 1858 a second general convention was held, at 
which twenty-five clubs were represented. A com- 
mittee was appointed to formulate a Constitution and 
By-laws for a permanent organization, and in accord- 
ance with this ' ' The National Association of Base- , 
ball Players ' ' was duly organized. The game now 
made rapid strides. It was no boys' sport, for no 
one under twenty-one years of age could be a del- 
egate. Each year a committee of men having a 
practical knowledge of the game revised the playing 
rules, so that these were always kept abreast of the 
time. 

During 1858 a seriesof three games between picked 
nines from New York and Brooklyn was played on 
the Fashion Course, Long Island. The public in- 
terest in these games was very great and the local 
feeling ran high. The series, which terminated in 
favor of New York, two to one, attracted general at- 
tention to the game. 

In 1 86 1 a similar game was played called ''the 
silver ball match," on account of the trophy, a sil- 
ver ball, offered by the New York Clipper. This time 



26 BASE-BAI,L. 

Brooklyn won easily, and it is said some 15,000 peo- 
ple were present. 

At the second annual meeting of the ' ' National 
Association" in i860, seventy clubs had delegates 
present, representing New York, Brooklyn, Boston, 
Detroit, New Haven, Newark, Troy, Albany, Buff- 
alo, and other cities. During this year the first ex- 
tended trip was taken by the Excelsior Club, of 
Brooklyn, going to Albany, Troy, Buffalo, Roches- 
ter, and Newburgh. All the expenses of the trip 
were paid from the treasury of the traveling club, for 
there were no inclosed grounds in those days and no 
questions as' to percentage or guarantee were yet agi- 
tating the clubs and public. The Kxcelsiors won 
every game, and their skillful display and gentle- 
manly appearance did much to popularize the game 
in the cities visited. 

Already in 1 860 the game was coming to be recog- 
nized as our national pastime, and there were clubs 
in all the principal cities. Philadelphia had forsaken 
her town-ball, and Boston's ''New England " game, 
after a hard fight, gave way to the "New York'' 
game. Washington, Baltimore, Troy, Albany, Syr- 
acuse, Rochester, Buffalo, all had their champion 
teams. From Detroit to New Orleans, and from 
Portland, Maine, to far-off San Francisco, the grand 
game was the reigning out-door sport. 
[With the outbreak of the Civil War came a very 
general suspension of play in the different cities, 
though the records of occasional games in camp show 
that " the boys " did not entirely forget the old love. 
In 1865 the friendly contests were resumed, though 
the call of the rolls showed many "absent" who 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 27 

had never been known to miss a game. More than 
one of those who went out in '6i had proven his 
courare on the crimson field. 

During the seasons of '65, '66, and '67 amateur 
base-ball, so-called, was in the height of its glory. At 
the annual Convention of the National Association in 
'66 a total of two hundred and two clubs from seven- 
teen States and the District of Columbia were repre- 
sented ; besides, there were present delegates from 
the Northwestern and Pennsylvania Associations, 
representing in addition over two hundred clubs. 

In 1867 the trip of the '' Nationals " of Washing- 
ton was the first visit of an Eastern club to the West, 
and helped greatly to spread the reputation of the 
game. 

For a number of years, however, certain baneful 
influences had crept into the game and now began to 
work out their legitimate effect. 

The greatest of these evils was in the amount of 
gambling on the results of games. With so much 
money at stake, the public knew that players would be 
tampered with, and when finally its suspicions were 
confirmed, it refused further to patronize the game. 

The construction of inclosed grounds and the 
charge of admission proved another danger. No 
regular salaries were paid, so that the players who 
were depending on a share of the ' * gate ' ' arranged 
to win and lose a game in order that the deciding con- 
test might draw well. 

Doubtless there were more of these things existing 
in the public imagination than in actual fact, but 
distrust once aroused, there was no faith left for any- 
thing or anybody. 



28 BASK-BAI,!,. 

Very early in the history of the Association the 
practice prevailed among certain clubs of offering in- 
ducements to crack players in order to secure them 
as members. The clubs which could afford this grew 
disproportionately strong, and in the face of continual 
defeat the weaker clubs were losing interest. In 
1859 a rule was made forbidding the participation in 
any matches of paid players, but it was so easily 
evaded that it was a dead letter. In 1866 the rule 
was reworded, but with no improved effect, and in 
1868 the National Association decided, as the only 
way out of the dilemma, to recognize the professional 
class of players. By making this distinction it would 
no longer be considered a disgrace for an amateur to 
be beaten by a professional nine. 

For the professionals the change was most benefi- 
cial. It legitimized their occupation and left them 
at liberty to pursue openly and honorably what they 
had before been forced to follow under false colors. 
The proud record of the Cincinnati ''Reds" in ^69 
proved that professional base-ball could be honestly 
and profitably conducted, and from that time forth it 
was an established institution. 

But with the introduction of professionalism there 
began a great competition for players, and this 
brought in a new evil in the form of ' ' revolvers, ' ' or, 
as they were sometimes called, ''shooting stars." 
Players under contract with one club yielded to the 
temptations of larger offers and repudiated the first 
agreements. It became evident that a closer organi- 
zation was necessar}^ to deal with these affairs. 

In 1 87 1 the professional and amateur organiza- 
tions concluded to dissolve partnership. Two dis- 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 29 

tinct associations were formed, and the first regular 
championship contests were engaged in by the Pro- 
fessional Association. After a few years the Amateur 
National Association passed out of existence. 

In 1876 eight clubs of the " Professional National 
Association ' ' formed an independent body, calling 
themselves '^ The National League," and this is the 
present senior base-ball organization. 

In 1 88 1 a new body of professional clubs, The 
American Association, entered the field, and is now, 
with the National I_<eague, one of the controlling fac- 
tors of the game. 

There have been a number of other base-ball asso- 
ciations formed from time to time, but, unable to com- 
pete with the larger Leagues, and despoiled of their 
best players, they have been forced to withdraw. 
Under a new regime there are at present quite a num- 
ber of these minor organizations, and some of them 
are in a most flourishing condition. 

In 1882 the National League, American Associa- 
tion, and Northwestern League entered into what was 
called the ' ' Triparti Agreement, ' ' which the follow- 
ing year was developed into the ' ' National Agree- 
ment. ' ' The parties to this document, which is be- 
come the lex suprema in base-ball affairs, are now, 
primarily, the National League and the American 
Association. It regulates the term of players' con- 
tracts and the period for negotiations ; it provides a 
fine of five hundred dollars upon the club violating, 
and disqualifies the player for the ensuing season ; 
it prescribes the formula necessary to make a ' ' legal ' ' 
contract ; the clubs of each Association are to respect 
the reservations, expulsions, blacklistments, and sus- 



30 BASK-BAI.I,. 

pensions of the clubs of the other ; it declares that no 
club shall pay any salary in excess of two thousand 
dollars ; finally, it provides for a Board of Arbitration, 
consisting of three duly accredited representatives 
from each Association, to convene annually, and, 
"in addition to all matters that may be specially re- 
ferred to them," to have ''sole, exclusive, and final 
jurisdiction of all disputes and complaints arising 
under, and all interpretations of, this Agreement." 
It shall also decide all disputes between the Associa- 
tions or between club members of one Association 
and club members of the other. 

To this main agreement are tacked ' ' Articles of 
Qualified Admission," by which the minor base-ball 
associations, for a consideration and upon certain 
conditions, are conceded certain privileges and pro- 
tection. These articles are an agreement between 
the League and American Association, party of the 
first part, and the minor leagues as party of the sec- 
ond part. 

The most important feature of the National Agree- 
ment unquestionably is the provision according to 
the club members the privilege of reserving a stated 
number of players. No other club of any Associa- 
tion under the Agreement dares engage any player 
so reserved. To this rule, more than any other thing, 
does base-ball as a business owe its present substan- 
tial standing. By preserving intact the strength of a 
team from year to year, it places the business of base- 
ball on a permanent basis and thus offers security to 
the investment of capital. The greatest evil with 
which the business has of recent years had to con- 
tend is the unscrupulous methods of some of its 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 31 

** managers/' Knowing no such thing as profCvS- 
sional honor, these men are ever ready to benefit 
themselves, regardless of the cost to an associate 
club. The reserve rule itself is a usurpation of the 
players' rights, but it is, perhaps, made necessary by 
the peculiar nature of the base-ball business, and 
the player is indirectly compensated by the improved 
standing of the game. I quote in this connection 
Mr. A. G. Mills, ex- President of the lyCague, and 
the originator of the National Agreement : * * It 
has been popular in days gone by to ascribe the de- 
cay and disrepute into which the game had fallen to 
degeneracy on the part of the players, and to blame 
them primarily for revolving and other misconduct. 
Nothing could be more unjust. I have been identi- 
fied with the game more than twent3^-five years — for 
several seasons as a player — and I know that, with 
rare exceptions, those faults were directly traceable 
to those who controlled the clubs. Professional play- 
ers have never sought the club manager ; the club 
manager has invariably sought — and often tempted 
— the player. The reserve rule takes the club man- 
ager by the throat and compels him to keep his 
hands off his neighbor's enterprise." 

It was not to be expected that club managers of 
the stamp above referred to would exhibit much 
consideration for the rights of players. As long as 
a player continued valuable he had little difficulty, 
but when, for any reason, his period of usefulness to 
a club had passed, he was likely to find, by sad ex- 
perience, that base-ball laws were not construed for 
his protection ; he discovered that in base-ball, as in 
other affairs, might often makes right, and it is not 



82 BASK-BALIv. 

to be wondered at that he turned to combination as a 
means of protection. 

In the fall of 1885 the members of the New York 
team met and appointed a committee to draft a Con- 
stitution and By-laws for an organization of players, 
and during the season of 1886 the different "Chap- 
ters ' ' of the ' ' National Brotherhood of Ball-Players ' ' 
were instituted by the mother New York Chapter. 

The objects of this Brotherhood as set forth by the 
Constitution are : 

' * To protect and benefit its members collectively 
and individually ; 

' ' To promote a high standard of professional con- 
duct ; 

' ' To foster and encourage the interests of * The 
National Game.' " 

There was no spirit of antagonism to the capitalists 
of the game, except in so far as the latter might at 
any time attempt to disregard the rights of any 
member. 

In November, 1887, a committee of the Brother- 
hood met a committee of the lyCague, and a new form 
of players' contract was agreed upon. Concessions 
were made on both sides, and the result is a more 
equitable form of agreement between the club and 
players. 

The time has not yet come to write of the effect of 
this new factor in base-ball affairs. It is organized 
on a conservative plan, and the spirit it has already 
shown has given nothing to fear to those who have 
the broad interests of the game at heart. That it has 
within it the capacity for great good, the writer has 
no manner of doubt. 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 83 

And thus the erstwhile schoolboy game and the 
amateur pastime of later years is being rounded out 
into a full-grown business. The professional clubs 
of the country begin to rival in number those of the 
halcyon amateur days ; and yet the latter class has 
lost none of its love for the sport. The only thing 
now lacking to forever establish base-ball as our 
national sport is a more liberal encouragement of the 
amateur element. Professional base-ball may have 
its ups and downs according as its directors may be 
wise or the contrary, but the foundation upon which 
it all is built, its hold upon the future, is in the ama- 
teur enthusiasm for the game. The professional game 
must always be confined to the larger towns, but 
ever)^ hamlet may have its amateur team, and let us 
see to it that their games are encouraged. 



3 



CHAPTER I. 

THEORY OF the; GAMEJ. — A CHAPTKR FOR THFJ 

I^ADIES. 

On account of the associations by which a profes- 
sional game of base-ball was supposed to be sur- 
rounded, it was for a long time thought not a proper 
sport for the patronage of ladies. Gradually, how- 
ever, this illusion has been dispelled, until now at 
every principal contest they are found present in 
large numbers. One game is generally enough to 
interest the novice ; she had expected to find it so 
difficult to understand, and she soon discovers that 
she knows all about it ; she is able to criticise plays 
and even find fault with the umpire ; she is surprised 
and flattered by the wonderful grasp of her own un- 
derstanding, and she begins to like the game. As 
with everything else that she likes at all, she likes it 
with all her might, and it is only a question of a few 
more games till she becomes an enthusiast. It is a 
fact that the sport has no more ardent admirers than 
are to be found among its lady attendants throughout 
the country. 

Whoever has not experienced the pleasure of tak- 
ing a young lady to her first game of ball should 
seize the first opportunity to do so. Her remarks 
about plays, her opinions of different players and the 



THEORY OF THE GAME. 35 

umpire, and the questions she will ask concerning 
the game, are all too funny to be missed. She is a 
violent partisan and at once takes strong sides, and 
if her favorite team fails to bat well she characterizes 
the opposing pitcher as a " horrid creature ;" or when 
the teams have finished practicing she wants to know, 
with charming ingenuousness, "which won." But 
as she gets deeper into the principles of the game 
her remarks become less frequent and her questions 
more to the point, until her well-timed attempts to 
applaud good plays and the anxious look at critical 
points of the game indicate that she has at last caught 
the idea. 

Unfortunately, some men are not able to intelligi- 
bly explain the theory of base-ball, while others are 
so engrossed with the game that they do not care to 
be disturbed. For the benefit of those ladies whose 
escorts either cannot, or will not, answer their ques- 
tions, I will attempt to set forth as clearly as possible 
the fundamental principles of the game. 

There are always two opposing teams of nine play- 
ers each, and they play on a field laid out in the 
shape of a diamond, as seen in the diagram on t]je 
following page. 

At each corner of the diamond is a base, and these 
are known respectively as home base, first base, sec- 
ond base, and third base. One of the teams takes 
** the field," that is, each of its nine players occupies 
one of the nine fielding positions shown in the dia- 
gram, and known as pitcher, catcher, first base, sec- 
ond base, third base, short stop, left field, centre 
field, and right field ; the other team goes to ' ' the 
bat " and tries to make '' runs." A run is scored in 



36 BASK-BAI,!,. 

Diagram of Ball Field, showing -position of Players^ etc. 



Centre 



Left 



Right 



Baseman 



V •> 



1st 



Coacher 




A. A. A. — Ground reserved for Umpire, Batsman, and Catcher. 
C — Players' Bench. 



THEORY OF THK GAME. 37 

this way : One of the nine batting players takes his 
position at the home base and endeavors to hit the 
ball, thrown to him by the opposing pitcher, to some 
part of the field where it can neither be caught be- 
fore touching the ground, nor thrown to first base 
before the batter himself can run there ; if he can hit 
it far enough to allow him to reach not only first 
base, but second or third or ev.en home, so much the 
better, for when he has made the complete circuit of 
the bases his side is credited with one run. If he 
cannot make home on his own hit he may be helped 
around by the good hits of succeeding batsmen, for 
each one of the nine takes his regular turn at the bat. 
This batting and running goes on until three of 
the batting side have been "put out," whereupon 
the batting side take the field and the other team 
comes in to take its turn at bat and make as many 
runs as possible. When three of a batting side 
have been ''put out," that side is said to have 
had its ''inning," and each side is entitled to nine 
innings. 

A player is "put out " in various ways, principal 
among which are the following : If he strikes three 
times at the ball and misses it and on the third strike 
the ball is caught by the catcher ; a ball which passes 
over the plate between the height of the knee and 
shoulder and not struck at, is called a strike just as 
though it had been struck at and missed. The bats- 
man is also ' ' out ' ' if the ball which he hits is caught 
by some fielder before touching the ground ; or if, 
having touched the ground, it is thrown to the first- 
baseman before the batter himself can reach that 
base. He is out if, at any time after having hit the 



38 BASK-BAI,!,. 

ball, he is touched with it in the hands of a fielder, 
when no part of his person is touching a base. 

There are lines drawn from the home base through 
the first and third-base corners and continued indefi- 
nitely into the field. These are called ' ' foul lines, ' ' 
and any hit ball falling outside of them counts as 
nothing at all, unless, of course, it be caught before 
touching the ground, in which case it puts the striker 
"out." 

Outside of the nine players on each side there is 
another important personage, known as " The Um- 
pire." He is not placed there as a target for the 
maledictions of disappointed spectators. He is of 
flesh and blood, and has feelings just the same as 
any other human being. He is not chosen because 
of his dishonesty or ignorance of the rules of the game, 
neither is he an ex-horse thief nor an escaped felon ; 
on the contrary, he has been carefully selected by 
the President of the League from among a great 
number of applicants on account of his supposed in- 
tegrity of character and peculiar fitness for the posi- 
tion ; indeed, in private life he may even pass as a 
gentleman. 

His duties are arduous ; he must decide all points 
of play, though taking place on widely separated 
portions of the field ; he determines whether a ball 
has been fairly pitched over the home-base, whether 
a hit is ''fair" or ''foul," or whether a player has 
been put out in accordance with the rules. In brief, 
he is expected to see all parts of the field at once and 
enforce all the principal and incidental rules of the 
game. It would not be strange, therefore, if he made 
an occasional mistake or failed to decide in a way to 
suit all. 



DEFINITIONS. 39 

I have given thus concisely, and with the use of as 
few technical terms as possible, the first principles of 
the game. Many things are purposely left for the 
novice to learn, because any attempt to go into de- 
tail would prove confusing. For the instruction of 
those who wish to master the technical terms gener- 
ally used, I subjoin some definitions. They are in- 
tended for beginners, and though not in all cases 
covering the entire ground, will yet convey the idea. 

DEFINITIONS. 

A batsman, batter, or striker is the player who is 
taking his turn at bat. 

A base-runner is what the batter becomes instantly 
after having hit a fair ball, though for convenience of 
distinction he is often still called a batter until he has 
reached first base. 

K fielder is any one of the nine fielding players. 

A coacher is one of the batting players who takes 
his position within certain prescribed limits near first 
or third base to direct base-runners and to urge them 
along. 

A fair hit is, generally speaking, a ball hit by a 
batsman which falls within the foul lines. 

A foul hit is one which falls without the foul lines. 

A base hit is a fair hit by a batsman which can 
neither be caught before touching the ground nor 
fielded to first base in time to put out the striker. It 
may be either a two-base hit, a three-base hit, or a 
home run, according as two or three or four bases 
have been made on the hit without an intervening 
error. 

An ^rr<7r is made when a fielder fails to make a 
play that he should fairly have been expected to make. - 



40 BASK-BAI.I.. 

A 7?F is a hit caught before touching the ground. 

K muff is made when a "fly" or thrown ball, 
striking fairly in the hands of a fielder, is not caught. 

A grounder is a hit along the ground. 

A steal is made when a base-runner gets from one 
base to another without the assistance of a base hit 
or an error. 

A wild pitch \s a ball thrown by the pitcher out of 
the fair reach of the catcher, and on which a base- 
runner gains a base. 

A passed ball is a throw by the pitcher which the 
catcher should stop but fails, and by his failure a 
base-runner gains a base. 

For the purpose of distinction, the nine fielders are 
subdivided into The Battery, The In-field, and The 
Out-field. The Battery means the Pitcher and 
Catcher, the In-field includes the First, Second, and 
Third Basemen, and the Short-stop, and the Outfield 
is composed of the Left, Centre, and Right Fielders. 

As for the theory of the game, remember that there 
are opposing sides, each of which has nine turns at 
the bat, i. e.^ nine innings, and the object each in- 
ning is to score as many runs as possible. A run is 
scored every time a player gets entirely around the 
bases, either by his own hit alone or by the help of 
succeeding batters, or by the errors of the opposing 
fielders, and the team making the most runs in nine 
innings is declared the winner. An inning is ended 
when three of the batting side have been ' ' put out, ' * 
and a player may be put out in various ways, as be- 
fore enumerated. The umpire is not trying to be 
unfair, he is doing the best he can, and instead of 
abuse he is often deserving of sympathy. 



CHAPTER II. 

TRAINING. 

Some one has truthfully said, that ball players, like 
poets and cooks, are born, not made, though once 
born, their development, like that of their fellow- 
artists, may be greatly aided by judicious coaching. 
Of what this training shall consist becomes then a 
question of much importance. 

The only way to learn base-ball is to play it, and 
it is a trite saying that the best practice for a ball 
player is base-ball itself. Still, there are points out- 
side of the game, such as the preliminary training, 
diet, and exercise, an observance of which will be of 
great advantage when the regular work is begun. 
The method and style of play and the points of each 
position are given in the subsequent chapters, so that 
I shall here speak only of those points which come 
up off the field and are not included in the game 
proper. 

But first of all, let me say, that no one will ever 
become an expert ball player who is not passionately 
fond of the sport. Base-ball cannot be learned as a 
trade It begins with the sport of the schoolboy, 
and though it may end in the professional, I am sure 
there is not a single one of these who learned the 
game with the expectation of making it a business. 



42 BASK-BAI.I,. 

There have been years in the life of each during 
which he must have ate and drank and dreamed base- 
ball. It is not a calculation but an inspiration. 

There are many excellent books devoted exclu- 
sively to the general subject of training, and a careful 
reading of one such may be of much service in teach- 
ing the beginner the ordinary principles of self-care. 
It will show him how to keep the system in good 
working order, what are proper articles of diet, how 
to reduce weight, or what exercises are best calcu- 
lated to develop certain muscles ; but for the specific 
purposes of a ball player such a book is entirely 
wanting, for the reason that the ''condition" in 
which he should keep himself, and therefore the train- 
ing needful, differ from those for any other athlete. 
To perform some particular feat which is to occupy 
but a comparatively brief space of time, as to run, 
row, wrestle, or the like, a man will do better to be 
thoroughly ' ' fit. " But if the period of exertion is 
to extend over some length of time, as is the case 
with the ball player, working for six months at a 
stretch, his system will not stand the strain of too 
much training. Working solely on bone and muscle 
day after day, his nervous system will give way, he will 
grow weak, or as it is technically known, '^go stale." 
This over-training is a mistake oftenest made by the 
young and highly ambitious player, though doubtless 
many of the instances of ' ' loss of speed ' ' by pitchers 
and ' ' off streaks ' ' by older players are really attrib- 
utable to this cause. 

The ' ' condition ' ' in which a ball player should 
keep himself is such that his stomach and liver are 
in good order, his daily habits regular, his muscles 



TRAINING. 43 

free and firm, and his '' wind " strong enough to al- 
low him to run the circuit of the bases without incon- 
venience. He must not attempt to keep in what is 
known as ' ' fine ' ' condition. He should observe good 
hours, and take at least eight hours sleep nightly; and 
he may eat generously of wholesome food, except at 
noon, when he should take only a light lunch. There 
are many players who eat so heartily just before the 
game that they are sleepy and dull the entire after- 
noon. The traveling professional player needs to 
pay particular attention to the kind and quality of 
his food. The sudden changes of climate, water, and 
cooking are very trying, and unless he takes great 
care he will not get through a season without some 
trouble. Especially should he avoid under or over 
ripe fruit, for it is likely that many of the prevalent 
cases of cholera morbus are due to indiscretions in 
this particular. 

If he finds it necessary to take some light stimu- 
lant, let it be done wzlk the evening meal. Never 
take any liquor at any other time. I do not favor 
the indiscriminate use of any drink, but, on the con- 
trary, oppose it as a most harmful practice ; I do be- 
lieve, however, that a glass of ale, beer, or claret 
with one's meal is in some cases beneficial. A thin, 
nervous person, worn out with the excitement and 
fatigue of the day, will find it a genuine tonic ; it 
will soothe and quiet his nerves and send him earlier 
to bed and asleep. The '' beefy " individual, with 
plenty of reserve force, needs no stimulant, and should 
never touch liquor at any time. If taken at all, it 
should be solely as a tonic and never as a social bev- 
erage. 



44 BASK-BAI,!.. 

The force of the above applies with special empha- 
sis to the young professional player. Knowing so 
well the numberless temptations by which he is sur- 
rounded, I caution him particularly against indis- 
criminate drinking. In no profession in life are 
good habits more essential to success than in base- 
ball. It is the first thing concerning which the wise 
manager inquires, and if the player's record in this 
respect is found good it is the most hopeful indication 
of his future success. Keep away from saloons > 

The amount of work necessary to keep a player in 
the proper form must be determined in each particu- 
lar case by the individual himself. If he is inclined 
to be thin a very little will be enough, and he should 
not begin too early in the spring ; while if prone to 
stoutness he may require a great deal, and should 
begin earlier. It is scarcely necessary to say that all 
exercise should be begun by easy stages. Com- 
mencing with walks in the open air and the use of 
light pulley weights or clubs or bells, the quan- 
tity of exercise may be gradually increased. Never, 
however, indulge in heavy work or feats of strength. 
Such exercise is not good for any one, but especially 
is it dangerous for ball players. They do not want 
strength, but agility and suppleness ; besides, the 
straining of some small muscle or tendon may inca- 
pacitate one for the entire season, or even perma- 
nently. Right here is the objection to turning loose 
a party of ball players in a gymnasium, for spring 
practice. The temptation to try feats of strength is 
always present, and more than likely some one will 
be injured. 

The best preliminary practice for a ball player, 



TRAINING. 45 

outside of actual practice at the game, is to be had 
in a hand-ball court. The game itself is interesting, 
and one will work up a perspiration without noticing 
the exertion ; it loosens the muscles, quickens the 
eye, hardens the hands, and teaches the body to act 
quickly with the mind ; it affords every movement 
of the ball field except batting, there is little danger 
from accident, and the amount of exercise can be 
easily regulated. Two weeks in a hand-ball court 
will put a team in better condition to bes:in a 
season than any Southern trip, and in the end be less 
expensive to the club. 

But whatever preliminary work is found advisable 
or necessary to adopt, the player should be particu- 
lar in the following : Having determined the amount 
of exercise best suited to his temperament, he should 
observe regular habits, keep the stomach, liver, and 
skin healthy, attend carefully to the quality of food 
taken, and if he takes any stimulant at all let it be 
with the evening meal. 



CHAPTER III. 

the; pitche^r. 

Of all the players on a base-ball nine, the pitcher 
is the one to whom attaches the greatest importance. 
He is the attacking force of the nine, the positive 
pole of the battery, the central figure, around which 
the others are grouped. From the formation of the 
first written code of rules in 1845 down to the present 
time, this pre-eminence has been maintained, and 
though the amendments of succeeding years have 
caused it to vary from time to time, its relative im- 
portance is more marked to-day than at any preceding 
period. In a normal development of the game the 
improvement in batting would unquestionably have 
outstripped the pitching, and finally overcome this 
superiority; but the removal of certain restrictions 
upon the pitcher's motions, the legalization of the 
underhand throw instead of the old straight- arm 
pitch, the introduction of ''curve" pitching, and, 
finally, the unrestricted overhand delivery, have kept 
the pitching always in the lead. At several different 
times, notably in the rules of 1887, an effort has been 
made to secure a more even adjustment, but recent 
changes have undone the work, and the season of 
1888 will see the inequality greater, if anything, 
than ever. 



the; pitchkr. 47 

The qualities of mind and body necessary to con- 
stitute a good modern pitcher are rarely combined in 
a single individual. First-class pitchers are almost 
as rare as prima donnas, and out of the many thou- 
sand professional and amateur ball players of the 
country not niore than a dozen in all are capable of 
doing the position entire justice. 

Speaking first of the physical requirements, I will not 
discuss the question of size. There are good pitchers 
of all sizes, from Madden and Kilroy to Whitney and 
McCormick, though naturally a man of average pro- 
portions would have some advantages. 

The first thing necessary before one can become a 
star pitcher is the ability to throw a ball with speed. 
The rules, which at present govern the pitching, place 
a premium on brute strength, and unless one has a 
fair share of this he will never become a leading 
pitcher. There are a few so-called good professional 
players w^hose sole conception of the position is to 
drive the ball through with all possible speed, while 
others whose skill and strategy have been proven by 
long service, are forced out of the position because 
they have not sufficient speed for the modern game. 

Next, one must be possessed of more than an ordi- 
nary amount of endurance. It is by no means a 
simple task to pitch an entire game through and still 
be as effective in the ninth inning as in the first ; 
and when, as sometimes happens, the contest is pro- 
longed by an extra number of innings, the test is 
severe. This being true of a single game, how much 
more tiresome it becomes when continued regularly 
for an entire season, during the chilly days of the spring 
and fall, and under a broiling July sun, can be ap- 



48 BASK-BAI,!,. 

predated only by one who has gone through it. And 
what with all day and all night rides from city to 
city, broken rest and hasty meals, bad cooking and 
changes of water and climate, the man is extremely 
fortunate who finds himself in condition to play every 
day when wanted. Only a good constitution, a vig- 
orous digestion, the most careful habits, and lots of 
grit, will ever do it. 

Besides force and stamina, there are certain mental 
characteristics necessary. A pitcher must be pos- 
sessed of courage and of self-control. He must face 
the strongest batter with the same confidence that he 
would feel against the weakest, for it is only so that 
he can do himself entire justice ; and he must be able 
to pitch in the most critical situations with the same 
coolness as at any other stage. He must control his 
own feelings so as not to be disconcerted by anything 
that may happen, whether through his own fault, that 
of a fellow-player, or through no fault at all. He should 
remember that all are working for a common end, 
and that the chances of victory will be only injured 
if he allows his attention to be diverted by unavoid- 
able accidents. And then, too, it is more manly to 
play one's own game as best one can, no matter what 
occurs, than to continually display an ugly temper 
at the little mishaps sure to occur in every game. 

The next point is to acquire a correct position in 
the *'box," and an easy, yet deceptive, style of de- 
livery. The position is, to a great extent, prescribed 
by the rules, and so much of it as is not can be 
learned by observing the different pitchers. The posi- 
tion which seems most natural should be chosen. The 
ball should be held in exactly the same way, no mat- 



THK PITCHKR. 



49 



ter what kind of curve is to be pitched. Being obliged 
by rule to keep the ball before the body, in sight of 
the umpire, any difference in the manner of holding it 
will be quickly noticed by a clever batter, and if for a 
particular curve it is always held in a certain way, 
he will be forewarned of the kind of ball to expect. 




JOHN CI^ARKSON. 

Some batters pay no attention to these little indica- 
tions ; but the majority are looking for them all the 
time, and once they detect any peculiarities, they will 
be able to face the pitcher with much greater confi- 
dence. The correct manner of holding the ball for 
every kind of delivery is between the thumb and the 
4 



50 BASE-BAIvI.. 

first and middle fingers, as shown in the accompany- 
ing cut of Clarkson. 

It is true there are some curves which may be 
better acquired by holding the ball differently in the 
hand, but this fact is outweighed by the other con- 
siderations of which I have just spoken. Pitcher 
Shaw might still be a " wizard ' ' had he not neg- 
lected this precaution ; by noticing his manner of 
holding the ball the batter always knev\^ just what 
was coming ; and there are other pitchers yet in the 
field who would find their effectiveness greatly in- 
creased by a closer observance of this point. 

As for the style of delivery, it should be remembered 
that the easiest movement is the best. A long, free 
sweep of the arm, aided by a swing of the body, will 
give more speed, be more deceiving to the batter, and 
allow of more work than any possible snap or jerky 
motion. Facing the striker before pitching, the arm 
should be swung well back and the body around so as 
almost to face second base in the act of delivery ; this 
has an intimidating effect on weak-nerved batters ; be- 
sides, not knowing from what point the ball will 
start, it seems somehow to get mixed up with the 
pitcher's arm and body so that it is not possible to 
get a fair view of it. It will be understood what mo- 
tion is meant if there is an opportunity to observe 
Whitney, Clarkson or Keefe at work. 

Next comes the knowledge of how to throw the 
different curves. I have yet to see an article written 
on this subject which is of the least value in instruct- 
ing a complete novice. In the chapter on "Curve 
Pitching " will be found the theory of the curve, but 
as for describing intelligibly the snap of the wrist 



Th:e: pitchkr. 51 

and arm by which the various twists are imparted 
to the ball, I am convinced it cannot be done, and 
will waste no effort in the attempt. To curve a ball 
is not a difficult feat, and a few practical lessons, 
which any schoolboy can give, will teach the 
movement. But, while not attempting myself to tell 
how this is done, to one already possessed of the 
knowledge, I may offer some valuable suggestions. 

Not only must the ball always be held in the 
same way before pitching, but in the act of delivery 
the swing of the arm must be identical or so nearly 
so that the eye of the batter can detect no difference. 
All this means that the pitcher must not give the 
striker the slightest inkling of the kind of ball to ex- 
pect, so that he will have the shortest possible time 
in which to prepare to hit. I advise against the use of 
too many different curves. The accomplished twirler 
can pitch any kind of curve, but there are some which 
he seldom employs. It is impossible to be accurate 
when too many deliveries are attempted, and accu- 
racy is of far greater importance than eccentric curves. 
Almost all professional pitchers now use the over- 
hand delivery and pitch only a fast, straight ball and 
a curve. The fast ball, on account of its being 
thrown overhand and the twist thereby given, 
*' jumps" in the air, that is, it rises slightly, while 
the curve, pitched with the same motion, goes out- 
ward and downward. The curve will necessarily be 
slower than the straight ball, and this will give all 
the variation in speed needed to unsettle the batter's 
* ' eye ' ' and confuse him in ' ' timing ' ' the ball. 
Some pitchers are able, keeping the same motions, to 
vary the speed even of the curve and straight balls, 



52 bas:e:-bai,i,. 

but, as before said, this is apt to be at the expense of 
accuracy, and should not be attempted by the young 
player. Occasionally, say once an inning, a pitcher 
may make a round arm or underhand motion simply to 
mislead the batsman, and if the game is safely won 
he may use an underhand delivery if he finds it 
rests his arm, but these are exceptional instances. 

I have already spoken of the importance of accu- 
racy, but it cannot be too strongly emphasized. 
The more marked the control of the ball the greater 
will be the success, for no matter how many won- 
derful curves he may be able to get, unless he has 
perfect command he will never be a winning 
pitcher ; seasoned batsmen will only laugh at his 
curves and go to first on balls. To acquire thorough 
control requires long and patient practice. A pitcher 
should always pitch over something laid down to rep- 
resent a plate, and if possible get a batter to stand 
and hit against him. Let him practice with some 
method, pitching nothing but a straight ball, and try- 
ing to put it directly over the plate every time. He 
should not be anno3^ed if the batter hits him, as he 
is only practicing. When a pitcher is able to cut the 
centre of the plate eight times out of ten he may 
begin with his curve and work it in the same way. 
Finally, when he can also control the curve, he should 
try to alternate it with a straight ball. He will 
find that he cannot do this at first and retain com- 
mand of each, but he should keep at it, an hour or 
more regularly every day, till he can 

Up to this point he has been learning only the 
mechanical part of pitching, and if he has learned 
it well he is now ready to try his skill and met- 



SIGNAI^ING. 53 

tie on the field of actual contest. And here comes in 
an element not before mentioned, which is called 
strategy, or ' ' head-work." It means the attempt to 
deceive the batter, to outwit him so that he cannot 
hit safely. This may be accomplished in many ways, 
though the particular way best suited to each case can 
only be determined at the time by the pitcher himself. 
It depends, therefore, upon his own cleverness and 
wits, and it is not possible for any one else to supply 
these for him. An intelligent catcher may help him 
greatly, but there will still remain many points which 
he himself must decide. I may be able, however, to 
furnish some hints which will indicate the process of 
reasoning by which the pitcher may arrive at certain 
conclusions ; I can point out some things he should 
notice, and describe what these generally mean. 

SIGNALING. 

But first as to the question of signs." Every 
battery, by which is meant a pitcher and catcher, 
must have a perfectly understood private code of sig- 
nals, so that they may make known their intentions 
and wishes to one another without at the same time 
apprising the opposing players. The first and, of 
course, most important of these is the signal by which 
the catcher is to know what kind of ball to expect. 

There is no necessity of more than one ' ' sign ' ' for 
this, because all that any experienced catcher asks is 
to know when to expect a fast, straight ball ; not 
having received the signal for this, he will understand 
that a curve is to be pitched, and the difference in 
curve or speed will not bother him after a few mo- 
ments' practice. Until within a few years this sign 



54 BASE-BAI,!,. 

was always given by the pitcher, but now it is 
almost the universal practice for the catcher to give 
it to the pitcher, and if the latter doesn't want to 
pitch the ball asked for he changes the sign by a 
shake of the head. I think the old method was the 
better, because it is certainly the business of the 
pitcher not only to do the pitching, but to use his 
own judgment in deceiving the batsman. He should 
not act as a mere automaton to throw the ball ; more- 
over, the catcher has enough of his own to attend to 
without assuming any of the duties of the pitcher. 
Of course, if the pitcher is young and inexperienced, 
while the catcher is seasoned and better acquainted 
with the weak pointsof batters, the latterwillbe the bet- 
ter one to signal. It may be thought that the right 
of the pitcher to reverse the sign by a vShake of the 
head practically gives him the same control as though 
he himself gave the signs, but this is not strictly true ; 
it is impossible for the pitcher not to be more or less 
influenced by the catcher's sign, and he will often 
pitch against his own judgment. At least I found 
this to be true in my own experience, and therefore 
always preferred myself to do the ' ' signing. ' ' If the 
pitcher gives this sign he must be careful to choose 
one that will not be discovered by the other side, for 
there are certain players always watching for such 
points. Some years ago the Chicago Club gave me 
the roughest kind of handling in several games, and 
Kelly told me this winter that they knew every ball 
I intended to pitch, and he even still remembered the 
sign and told me what it was. Chicago finished first 
that year and we were a close second. That point 
which they gained upon me may have cost Provi- 



SIGNAIJNG. 55 

dence the championship, for they beat us badly in 
the individual series. When I suspected a club of 
knowing my sign I used a ''combination," that is, 
I gave two signs ; either one of them given sepa- 
rately was not to be understood as a signal at all, but 
both .had to be given together. I found this to work 
admirably, and it was never discovered by any club, 
so far as I know. If it be agreed that the catcher is 
to give this sign, it is still not necessary that the 
pitcher be entirely influenced by him. The pitcher 
should rely upon his own discretion, and not hesitate 
to change the sign whenever his judgment differs 
from that of the catcher. 

There are certain signs which the catcher gives to 
basemen when there are runners on the bases, and 
with these, too, the pitcher must be perfectly familiar, 
so that he may be able to pitch the ball in accordance 
with what is about to be done. For instance, if the 
catcher has signaled to the first baseman that he will 
throw there, he will probably ask the pitcher for an 
out curve. In order, then, to help him out with the 
play and give him plenty of room, the pitcher will not 
only pitch the out curve asked, but he will keep it well 
out and wide of the plate, so that it can't possibly be 
hit, and he will pitch it at the height where it may be 
best handled by the catcher. So, too, if there is a 
runner on first who is likely to attempt to steal sec- 
ond, he will '' pitch for the catcher," and he should 
shorten his pitching motion so as to give the catcher 
as much time as possible to throw. When runners 
' ' steal " on a catcher it is oftener not so much his 
fault as the pitcher's. It is almost impossible to make 
a clean steal of second, even with a very ordinary 



56 BASK-BAI,!,. 

thrower behind the bat, if the pitcher will not give 
the runner too much ' ' start. ' ' 

The pitcher should also receive a signal from the 
catcher notifying him when to throw to second base 
to catch a runner leading off too far. This point will, 
however, be noticed more appropriately under the 
duties of ' ' The Catcher. ' ' 

As for the other bases, first and third, the pitcher 
should look after them himself without any signal 
from the catcher. I could always stand in the 
pitcher's position facing the batter and still see out of 
' ' the corner of my eye ' ' how much ground the run- 
ner on first base was taking. As the baseman is al- 
ready on the base, there is no necessity of notifying 
him of an intention to throw, so, watching the oppor- 
tunity, I would throw across my body without first 
having changed the position of my feet or body at 
all. The throw is, of course, not so swift as by first 
wheeling toward the base and then throwing, but it 
will catch a runner oftener. ' ' Smiling Mickey ' ' 
Welch plays the point to perfection, and last season 
caught many men '' napping " in this way. Its ad- 
vantage is that it is entirely legitimate. Some 
pitchers, in order to catch a runner at first, make a 
slight forward movement, visible to the runner but 
not to the umpire, as if about to pitch. This, of 
course, starts the runner, and before he can recover, 
the pitcher has turned and thrown to first. Notwith- 
standing the strictest prohibition last season of anjy 
motion even ' ' caladated ' ' to deceive the runner, there 
were umpires weak-kneed enough to allow these balks. 

The easiest men to catch are the best base-runners, 
because they are alwa3"S anxious to " get away," and 



SIGNAI^ING. 67 

they take the most chances. An ambitious runner 
will keep moving up and down the line trying to get 
his start. The pitcher should not appear to notice 
him, pretending to be interested only in the batter, but 
watching the runner closely all the time. Suddenly, 
and without the least warning, he should snap the 
ball to the baseman. If the pitcher will choose a time 
when the runner is on the move away from the base 
the batter will be off his balance and may be caught 
before he can recover. 

For the third base it may be advisable to have 
a signal with the baseman to notify him of a throw. 
It is very seldom possible to catch a runner off third 
by a throw from the pitcher, though it may some- 
times be done. Clarkson and Galvin both accom- 
plish it at times, though they always do it by the aid 
of a "balk." Clarkson' s method is this : With a 
runner on first and one on third, the man on first will 
usually try to steal second, and if the ball is thrown 
there to catch him, the runner on third tries to score. 
In this situation Clarkson makes a slight forward 
movement of the body as though about to pitch, and 
the runner on third, being anxious to get all possible 
ground, moves forward. With the same motion, and 
before the runner can recover, Clarkson, by a prior 
understanding with the third baseman, throws to the 
base, the baseman meets the ball there, and before 
the runner has quite realized what has happened, he 
is * ' out. ' ' I have reason to know the working of 
this little scheme, because I was caught by it in Chi- 
cago last season in a very close game. The ' ' balk ' ' 
was palpable, and I made a strenuous "kick," but 
the umpire refused to see it that way. 



58 BASK-BAIvIy. 

A pitcher should not be misled by what I have 
said into too much throwing to bases. He should 
throw only when there is a fair chance of making the 
put-out ; for all other purposes, as to hold the runner 
close to the base, a feint will answer just as well and 
does not entail the possibility of an error. 

STRATKGY. 

A strategic pitcher is one who depends for success 
not simply on speed and curves, but who outwits the 
batsman by skill, who deceives his eye, and plays 
upon his weaknesses. What will be the best method 
for a particular case must be decided in each in- 
stance by the pitcher himself, and his success will 
depend upon his judgment and cleverness. But 
while no general rule can be laid down, I may still 
be able to offer some useful suggestions. 

Assuming that a pitcher has never seen the batters 
whom he is about to face, there are certain points 
to be noted as each of them takes his place at the 
bat. First, his position and manner of holding his 
bat should be observed. If he carries it over his shoul- 
der and in an almost perpendicular position, the 
chances are that he is naturally a high ball hitter and 
is looking for that kind of a pitch, because that is the 
position of the bat from which a high ball is most 
easity hit. If, on the contrary, he carries his bat in 
a more nearly horizontal position, he is ready either 
to ** chop " over at a high ball, or " cut " under at a 
low one, the chances being that he prefers the latter. 
Of still more importance is his movement in hitting, 
and this the pitcher must try to discover before the 
batter has hit the ball at all. An out-curve should be 



STRATEGY. 69 

pitched just out of his reach ; being so near where he 
wants it, it will draw him out and he will make every . 
movement, except the swing of the bat, as in hitting. 
This movement should be carefully noted. If, in step- 
ping forward to hit, he also steps away from the plate 
toward the third base, it is at once a point in the 
pitcher's favor. The batsman is timid and afraid of 
being hit. If, however, he steps confidently forward, 
almost directly toward the pitcher, he is a dangerous 
man and all the pitcher's skill will be needed to outwit 
him. Again, if in stepping forward he makes a very 
long stride, it is another point for the pitcher, because 
it shows that he is not only anxious to hit but means 
to hit hard, and such a man is easily deceived. But if 
he makes a short stride, keeping easily his balaiice and 
standing well upright, he is more than likely a good 
hitter, even though he steps away from the plate, and 
if in addition to stepping short he also steps toward 
the pitcher, the pitcher should look out for him. 

Without going into too much detail I will try to 
illustrate : If my batter is one who steps away from 
the plate I will pitch a fast, straight ball in over his 
shoulder too high and too far in to be hit. The 
next time he will step still further away, but this 
time I should put a fast, straight one over the out- 
side corner of the plate. From his position he will 
probably not be able to reach it at all, or if he does 
he will hit with no force. I might pitch the next ball 
in the same place, and then I should consider it time 
to drive him away from the plate again and I would 
send the next one in over his shoulder as before. He 
may hit at one of these high ^ ' in " balls, but if he 
does he will probabl}^ not touch it ; at any rate, an- 



^0 BASK-BAI.Iv. 

other fast, straight one over the outside corner ought 
to dispose of him. It will be observed I have not 
thrown a single curve, nor would I to such a batter 
except occasionally, say two or three during the 
game, and then only to keep him ^' guessing." 

Taking another kind of hitter, suppose that he 
steps up in the best form, making a short stride 
toward the pitcher, keeping his balance well and his 
form erect. As already said, he is a dangerous bat- 
ter and likely to hit in spite of my best efforts, but I 
must do the best I can with him. I therefore ob- 
serve his manner of holding the bat and note whether 
he prefers a high or low ball, and we will say that it 
is a low one. I send a couple of low drop curves 
just out of his reach. It is just what he wants if he 
could only get at them, and the next time he steps 
well in toward the plate. This time, however, I send 
a fast, straight, high ball over the plate, and if he 
hits it at all, it wall be in the air. Another fast, 
straight, high one might not escape so easily, but I 
have two balls called and can't take the chances of 
giving him his base. I therefore try it again. If he has 
missed that I now have two strikes, and only two 
balls, and can afford to throw away a ball or two, 
which I do as before by pitching a couple of low 
drop curves out of his reach, until his mind is again 
fixed upon that point. Then I would probably again 
try a fast, high ball on the inside corner of the plate. 
These two cases are given merely to illustrate the 
line of reasoning, and in practice each would be gov- 
erned by its own particular circumstances. To avoid 
confusing details, I will add only a few observations : 
A batter who steps away from the plate, should be 



strate;gy. 61 

worked on the outside corner ; one who steps in^ on 
the inside corner ; one who makes a long, vicious 
swing at the ball, will be easily deceived by a slow 
ball, much more readily than one who ''snaps" or 
hits with a short, quick stroke ; one who strides long 
must necessarily stoop or crouch, and is in bad form 
to hit a high ball ; if he swings his bat always in a 
horizontal plane, he will not be able to hit a shoulder 
or knee ball as well as one who swings in a perpen- 
dicular plane, z. e., who " cuts " under at a low ball 
and ' ' chops ' ' over-hand at a high ball ; there are 
some batters who prefer to hit only at a fast, straight 
ball, while others wait for a curve, and in such a case 
the pitcher may get a strike or two by pitching what 
he will not care to hit at ; some are never ready to hit 
at the first ball pitched, so that by sending this in 
over the plate a strike may be secured ; some are known 
as great ''waiters," who will only hit when forced, 
and these should be forced to hit at once ; others are 
anxious and cannot wait, and may be safely * 'worked ' ' 
wide of the plate. Then occasionally there will be 
found a batter who betrays by his manner when he has 
made up his mind to hit, and in that case he will let 
go at anything within reach ; therefore a ball should 
be pitched where he will be least likely to hit it. If 
the pitcher finds a batter facing for a hit to right field, 
he should not give him the ball out from him, but 
crowd him with it, keeping it on the inside corner, 
and it will be almost impossible for him to succeed. 
It does not do to work the same batter always in 
the same way, or he will discover a pitcher's method. 
Sometimes the pitcher must ' ' cross ' ' him and at 
times it is even advisable to give him a ball just 



62 base;-bai,i,. 

where he would like to have it, but where, for that 
very reason, he least expects it. 

Finally, a pitcher should not be in a hurry to de- 
liver the ball. As soon as the catcher returns the 
ball the pitcher should assume a position as though 
about to pitch and stand there ; he should take all 
the time the umpire will give him. This will allow 
him to give and receive any necessary signal from the 
catcher, it will rest him and thus enable him to hold 
his speed, and, finally, it will work upon the nerves 
and eyesight of the batter. The batter will grow impa- 
tient and anxious, and unless his eyes are very strong 
the long strain in a bright light will blear his sight. 

FIKI.DING THK POSITION. 

Some pitchers seem to harbor the impression that 
nothing else is expected of them but to pitch the ball, 
and the effect of this opinion is to diminish their worth 
to a very great extent. A pitcher is just as much a 
fielder as any of the other players, and may render his 
side efficient service by his ability to properly care for 
this part of his work. 

I have already spoken of throwing to bases to 
catch runners, and it is unnecessary to say anything 
further except to again caution against too much of 
it. A pitcher should throw only when there is a 
chance of making the put-out. 

In fielding ground-hits he must exert considerable 
activity on account of the very short time allowed 
him. He should have the courage to face a hard hit, 
because on account of the position of the second base- 
man and short-stop such a hit will generally be safe if 
he does not stop it, or at least turn its course. It is his 



FIHI.DING THK POSITION. 63 

place to get all ' ' bunted ' ' hits. It is a mistake to break 
up the in-field by bringing a third baseman in close 
to get hits which a live pitcher should be able to 
field. When a batter who is likely to bunt the ball 
comes to the bat, the pitcher must be ready at every 
ball pitched to move in the direction of the third base 
line, where such hits are always made. There are 
some pitchers, such as Galvin and Van Haltren, 
against whom it is not safe to try a bunt, but, as I have 
said, many others seem to think they are expected 
only to pitch. 

On a hit to the first baseman the pitcher should 
cover the base, and if the hit is slow or if the baseman 
fumbles it he may still have time to toss the ball to 
the pitcher. The pitcher should not wait until he 
sees the fumble before starting, but the instant the 
hit is made go for the base ; he will then be there 
and ready to receive the ball and not be forced to 
take it on the run. So, too, the occasion may arise 
when he should cover second or third, where some 
combination of play has taken the baseman away and 
left the base uncovered. 

In all cases where a runner is caught between 
bases the pitcher must take part in the play. If thd 
runner is between first and second, the pitcher will 
back up the first baseman, leaving the short-stop to 
back the second baseman ; if between second and 
third, he will back up the third baseman ; and if be- 
tween third and home, he will back the catcher. 

The pitcher must back up the catcher, the first and 
third basemen, on all throws from the out field. He 
must not wait until the throw is made before getting 
in line, but the moment the probability of such a throw 
arises, he should get there, and then he can see the 



64 BASK-BAIvt. 

entire play, and will be sure to get in a line with tlie 
throw. In backing up he must not get too close to 
the fielder he is backing, otherwise what is a wild 
throw to him will be likewise to the pitcher. He 
should keep from fifty to seventy-five feet away. 

With runners on bases he should be sure that he 
understands the situation perfectly before pitching, 
and he must keep it in mind ; then, if the ball is hit to 
him, he need lose no time in deciding upon the proper 
place to throw it. If his play is to try for a double by 
way of second base, he should not wait until the base- 
man gets there and then drive the ball at him with all 
his might ; but he should toss it to the baseman as he 
runs for the base, timing the speed of the throw so 
that the baseman and the ball will reach the base to- 
gether. Thus no time will be lost, and the throw being 
easy, may be much more quickly and safely handled. 

In short, a pitcher should make himself useful 
wherever he can, and use his wits in fielding as well as 
in pitching. He should not be disheartened by poor 
support or unavoidable accidents, but should keep up 
his courage, and the entire team will be infused with 
his spirit. There are some pitchers who are not hit 
hard and yet seldom win because they display such 
a lazy disposition in the box that they put all the 
other players to sleep ; and, again, there are others 
not so successful in the matter of base hits, who yet 
win more games, on account of the aggressive spirit 
they impart to their fellow-players. Let the pitcher 
be alive, then, and if he has any ** heart '' let him 
show it ; let him keep up his spirits, have a reason 
for every ball pitched, and use his brain as well as his 
muscle, for it is only in this way that he can ever 
take a place in the front rank. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THK CATCHKR. 

Next after the pitcher, in regular order, comes the 
catcher. Though the negative pole of " the battery," 
his support of the pitcher will largely influence the 
latter' s efficiency, and he therefore becomes an im- 
portant factor in the attacking force. Were it not 
for the extreme liability to injury, the position of 
catcher would be the most desirable on the field ; he 
has plenty of work of the prettiest kind to do, is 
given many opportunities for the employment of 
judgment and skill, and, what is dearer than all to the 
heart of every true ball player, he is always in the 
thickest of the fight. Moreover, his work, unlike that 
of the pitcher, always shows for itself, and is there- 
fore always appreciated. A pitcher's success de- 
pends upon many circumstances, some of which are 
beyond his own control, so that, no matter how 
faithfully or intelligently he may work, he must 
still suffer the annoyance and mortification of de- 
feat. But the catcher has almost complete control 
of his own play, he is dependent upon no one but 
himself, and, in spite of everything and everybody, 
the nature of his work remains the same. 

There are some cases in which a steady, intelligent 

catcher is of more worth to a team than even the 

pitcher, because such a man will make pitchers out 

of almost any kind of material. Bennett, the grand- 

5 65 



66 BASK-BAI,!,. 

est of every-day catchers, has demonstrated this fact 
in many instances, and I have no doubt that much 
of the success of the St. Louis pitchers has been due 
to the steady support and judicious coaching of 
Bushong. 

There are certain quahfications necessary to pro- 
duce a good catcher, and if a person has any ambition 
to play the position, he should first examine him- 
self to see whether he is the possessor of these. 
Here again the size of the candidate seems not to be 
of vital importance, for there are good catchers, from 
the little, sawed-off bantam, Hofford, of Jersey City^ 
to the tall, angular Mack, of Washington, and Gan- 
zell, of Detroit. Still, other things being equal, a 
tall, active man should have an advantage because 
of his longer "reach " for widely pitched balls, and 
on account of the confidence a big mark to pitch at 
inspires in the pitcher. Besides, a heavier man is 
better able to stand against the shocks of reckless 
runners to the home plate. 

More important than size are pluck and stamina, 
especially if one contemplates becoming a professional 
catcher. In every well-regulated team nowadays the 
pitchers and catchers are paired, and the same pair 
always work together. Perfect team work involves 
a perfect understanding by each man of all the points 
of play of the others, and it is believed that a battery 
will do better team-work where its two ends are 
always the same. But to be able to work regularly 
with one pitcher through an entire season, catching 
every day when he pitches, a catcher will more than 
once find his powers of endurance strongly taxed ; and 
if, for real or fancied injuries, he is often obliged 



the; catchkr. 67 

to lay off, then, no matter how brilliant his work 
when he does catch, he will lose much of his value 
to the team. Certain injuries are inevitable and ne- 
cessitate a rest, but there are others of minor import- 
ance to which some men will not give way. I do not 
laud this as pure bravado, but because it sets an ex- 
ample and infuses a spirit into a team that is worth 
many games in a long race. I have the greatest re- 
spect and admiration for the Bennetts and the Bush- 
ongs of base-ball. 

But there are other features necessary before a person 
can hope to become a first-class catcher. As before 
said, he has many chances offered for the em- 
ployment of judgment and skill ; and to make the 
best use of these he must be possessed of some brains. 
The ideal catcher not only stops the ball and throws 
it well, but he is a man of quick wit, he loses no time 
in deciding upon a play, he is never '* rattled" in 
any emergency, he gives and receives signals, and, 
in short, plays all the points of his position, and ac- 
complishes much that a player of less ready per- 
ception would lose entirely. Two of the best catch- 
ers in the country are neither of them remarkable 
back-stops nor particularly strong and accurate 
throwers, and yet both, by their great generalship 
and cleverness, are ^' winning " catchers. I refer to 
Kelly, of Boston, and Snyder, of Cleveland. Ewing, 
of New York, combines with wonderful skill and 
judgment the ability to stop a ball well and throw. it 
quicker, harder, and truer than any one else, and I 
therefore consider him the ' ' King ' ' of all catchers — 
when he catches. 

In learning to catch, the first thing, of course, is to 



68 BASK-BAI.I,. 

acquire a correct style, that is, an approved position 
of body, hands, and feet, the best manner of catching 
a ball, the proper place to stand, how to throw 
quickly, and the best motion for throwing. After 
this comes the study of the different points of play. 
There are as many different styles in detail as there 
are individual catchers, and yet, through all, there 
run certain resemblances which may be generalized. 

As to the position of the body, all assume a stoop- 
ing posture, bending forward from the hips, in order 
better to get a low as well as a high pitch. Some, 
like Daily, of Indianapolis, crouch almost to the 
ground, but such a position must be not only more 
fatiguing, but destroy somewhat the gauging of a 
high pitch. A catcher should not stand with his feet 
too widely apart. It is a mistake some players make, 
but a little reflection will convince a catcher that a man 
in such an attitude cannot change his position and 
handle himself as readily as if he stood with the feet 
nearer together. Besides, on a low pitched ball strik- 
ing the ground in front of him, it is necessary to get 
the feet entirely together to assist the hands in stop- 
ping it, and this he cannot do if he is too much 
spread out. These things may appear to be of minor 
importance, but it is their observance which often 
makes the difference between a first-class and an 
ordinary catcher. 

A catcher should not stand directly back of the 
plate, but rather in line with its outside corner ; and 
when he gets (or gives) his sign for the kind of ball to 
be pitched, he should not, by any movement out or in, 
indicate to the batter what is coming ; there are some 
batters who glance down at the plate to see, from the 



THB CATCHER. 69 

corner of the eye, where the catcher is standing. He 
will have ample time to move after the pitcher has 
begun his delivery and when the batter's attentimi is 
wholly occupied with that. If an out-curve is com- 
ing, he should be ready to move out, or if an in-curve, 
or fast, straight ball, he should be ready to step in. 
He should not anchor himself and try to do all his 
catching with his hands, but in every instance, if 
possible, receive the ball squarely in front of him. 
Then if it breaks through his hands it will still be 
stopped by his body. 

In catching a high ball the hands should be held 
in the position shown in the following cut of Bushong, 
the fingers all pointing upward. 

Some players catch with the fingers pointing toward 
the ball, but such men are continually being hurt. 
A slight foul- tip diverts the course of the ball just 
enough to carry it against the ends of the fingers, 
and on account of their position the necessary result 
is a break or dislocation. But with the hands held as 
in this cut there is a " give ' ' to the fingers and the 
chances of injury are much reduced. For a low ball 
the hands should be held so that the fingers point 
downward, and for a waist ball, by crouching slightly 
it may be taken in the same manner as a high ball. 

Some catchers throw more quickly than others be- 
cause, having seen the runner start, they get into 
position while the ball is coming. Instead of stand- 
ing square with the plate, they advance the left foot a 
half step, and then, managing to get the ball a little 
on the right side, they have only to step the left foot 
forward the other half step and let the ball go. To 
throw without stepping at all is not advisable, be- 



70 



BASE-BALI.. 



cause, on account of the long distance, there would not 
be sufficient speed ; to take more than one step oc- 
cupies too much time, more than is gained by the 
extra speed obtained ; so that the best plan and the 
one used by the most successful catchers is the one 
just described. It is not however the speed of the 




A. J. BUSHONG. 

throw alone that catches a base-runner, but the losing 
of no time in getting the ball on the way. Some very 
ordinary throwers are hard men to steal on, while 
others, who give much greater speed to the ball, are 
not so dangerous. 

A ball may be thrown under-hand, round-arm, or 



THK CATCHER. 71 

over-hand. Experience has proven to nie that a ball 
may be thrown a short distance, as from home to 
second, most accurately by a swing of the arm, half 
way between a round-arm and over-hand delivery. 
M}^ natural style was over-hand, but I have culti- 
vated the other until it now comes without difficulty. 
I was influenced to make the change by noting the 
styles of other players, particularly of Ewing and 
O'Rourke. I found that they both got great speed 
and accuracy, and I also noticed that they seldom 
complained of *' lame arm." By being a more con- 
tinuous swing, it is a more natural motion, less try- 
ing on the muscles, and gives greater accuracy on 
account of the twist such a swing imparts to the ball, 
much on the same principle as does the twist to a 
bullet from a rifled gun. I therefore recommend 
it for trial at least. When practicing with the 
pitcher the catcher should be just as careful about his 
style as he would be in a game, for it is while practic- 
ing that his habits are being formed. In returning 
the ball to the pitcher each time, he should learn to 
catch it and bring the arm back, with one continuous 
motion of the hands, without making any stops or 
angles. 

A word about high foul flies, since many of the 
catcher's put-outs are from these hits. A ball thrown 
directly up into the air by the hand will descend in a 
direct line, and may be easily ''judged," but a 
pitched ball hit directly up is given a tremendous 
twist by its contact with the bat, and, in descending, 
this twist carries the ball forward, sometimes as much 
as ten, or even twenty feet. Consequently we see 
catchers misjudging these hits time after time because 



72 base:-bai,i,. 

they either do not know this, or fail to take it into 
consideration. It is also necessary to know the 
direction and force of the wind, and this should be 
noted from time to time during the game by a glance 
at the flags, or in some equally sure way. 

There is one more point in fielding the catcher's 
position upon which a few words will not be amiss, 
that is, as to touching a runner coming home. There 
is a difierence of opinion as to the best place for the 
catcher to stand when waiting for the throw to cut 
off such a runner. The general practice is to stand 
a couple of feet from the plate toward third base and 
in front of the line. But this necessitates the 
catcher's turning half-way round after catching the 
ball before he can touch the runner, and many an 
artful dodger scores his run by making a slide in 
which he takes, at least, the full three feet allowed him 
out of the line. Man}^ a run is scored when the 
catcher seemed to have had the ball in waiting. 

I believe the best place to stand is a couple of feet 
toward third and just dack of the line. The pitcher 
saves the time of turning around and has the additional 
advantage of having the play in front of him, where he 
can better see every movement of the runner. When 
the game is depending upon that one put-out the best 
place of all to stand is a few feet toward third and di- 
rectly on the line. From there the catcher can reach 
the runner whether he runs in front of or behind him, 
and if he slides he will come against the catcher and 
may therefore not be able to reach the plate, or, at 
least, the catcher may delay him long enough to make 
the put-out. It is an extremely dangerous play for 
the catcher, however, and one that he will feel justi- 



SIGN AIDING. 73 

fied in attempting only when the game depends upon 
the put-out. Brown saved the New Yorks a game in 
New Orleans last winter by this play, though Pow- 
ell, the base-runner, came against him with such 
force as to throw him head-over-heels ten feet away. 
The object in standing a few feet toward third is to 
avoid close plays, for then if the put-out is made at 
all there can be no possible chance for the umpire to 
decide otherwise. 

SIGNAI^ING. 

Under the heading of '' The Pitcher " I have spoken 
of the necessity of a private code of signals between 
pitcher and catcher, and I also said it was the gen- 
eral practice now for the catcher to signify the kind 
of ball to be pitched, though it is my own opinion 
that the pitcher vShould do this, unless there are 
special reasons why it should be otherwise. In giv- 
ing this sign the catcher, standing with his hands 
resting on his knees, makes some movement with the 
right hand, or a finger of that hand, or with the right 
foot, to indicate an ' ' out ' ' ball, and some similar 
movement with his left hand or foot for an ' ' in " ball. 
Of course, this may generally be plainly seen by every 
one on the field except the batter, whose back is 
turned, and this fact has been taken advantage of by 
some teams. The coacher, standing at first or third, 
makes some remark with no apparent reference to the 
batter, but really previously agreed upon, to notify 
him what kind of ball is going to be pitched. This 
known, the batter has nothing to do but pick out his 
ball and lay on to it with all his weight. Some of 
the New York players had great sport the past wdn- 



74 BASB-BAI.I.. 

ter in this way at the expense of the California pitch- 
ers. It is therefore advisable that some sign be used 
that is not easily detected. 

There are other signals which a catcher must give 
to basemen to apprise them of his intention to throw. 
When there are runners on any of the bases, he should 
not give the sign to the pitcher to pitch until he has 
glanced quietly around and seen whether any of the 
runners are leading too far off the bases, and if so, by 
a prearranged signal notify the baseman that he will 
throw. This signal should be known also to the 
pitcher and by every other fielder who may be inter- 
ested in the play. The pitcher will now send the catcher 
the ball wide of the plate and at a height where the 
catcher can handle it easily. The moment he moves to 
pitch the baseman starts for his base and the proper 
fielders get in line to back up the throw, if by acci- 
dent it should be wild. It is veiy necessary that the 
pitcher keep the ball out of the batter's reach, other- 
wise it may be hit to apart of the field left unguarded 
by the fielders who have gone to back up the throw ; 
and the fielders must understand the signal or they 
will not be able to get in line to back up. The com- 
plete success of all these plays lies, therefore, in every 
one knowing and doing his part, and in all working 
together. A mistake by one, as if the pitcher al- 
lows the ball to be hit and it goes safely to a field 
that would have otherwise been guarded, demoral- 
izes the entire team, and several such mistakes de- 
stroy the confidence of the men in team work. In 
some cases the basemen themselves signal to the 
catcher for a throw, but in order that every one inter- 
ested may see the signal and be prepared for the 



SIGNAI.ING. 75 

play^ it IS manifestly better that the catcher alone 
should give it. 

A tricky runner on second will sometimes lead well 
oJBF for the express purpose of having the catcher 
throw down, whereupon, instead of returning to sec- 
ond he goes on to third. Whenever a catcher has rea- 
son to suspect a runner of this intention he should 
make a feint to throw to second, and if the runner 
starts for third the catcher then has him between the 
bases. The feint must be well made and no time 
lost afterward in getting the ball either to second or 
third, according to circumstances. The importance 
of a play such as this rests not only in the single 
put-out made, but in the respect for the catcher 
with which it inspires subsequent runners. They 
will be exceedingly careful what liberties they at- 
tempt to take. A very quick-witted runner, seeing 
himself caught in this way between the bases, will, 
of course, try by every means to extricate himself. 
He may, in turn, make a feint as if to return to sec- 
ond, and when the catcher throws there he will still go 
on to third ; or, he may feint to go to third and man- 
age to return to second. To catch such a man it is 
necessary to make a second feint to throw to 
the base nearest him, and this will almost invari- 
ably force him to go in the opposite direction. 
Besides, with each feint the catcher has stepped 
quickly forward and by the time he has finished the 
second feint he is almost down to the pitcher's posi- 
tion. The runner is then completely at the catcher's 
mercy and only an error of some kind will allow him 
to escape. There are not more than a half dozen catch- 
ers in the profession who know how to make this 



76 BASE-BAI.I.. 

play properly, but there are some, as I have learned 
by sad experience. 

When there are runners on first and third with 
second unoccupied, and the runner on first tries to 
steal second, there are several possible plays. The 
catcher may throw to second to catch the runner go- 
ing down ; or he may feint to throw there and throw 
to third to catch that runner leading off ; or he may 
actually throw toward second, but short of the base, 
so that the baseman will have a less distance to re- 
turn the ball home, in case the runner on third starts 
in. Which one of these plays is to be made the 
catcher must decide beforehand and notify the base- 
men by signal, and he will be governed in his de- 
cision by the circumstances of the case. If the situa- 
tion of the game is such that it will make little differ- 
ence whether the runner on third scores or not, the 
catcher will, of course, throw to second to make that 
put-out. But if one run is vital there are other things 
to be considered. If the runner at third is very slow 
or one not likely to attempt to run home, he may 
still throw to second to catch the man from first. 
But if the runner at third is one who will attempt to 
score, the catcher must either throw short to second or 
else feint and throw to third. Whatever he is going 
to do must be understood thoroughly by all the field- 
ers interested, and to this end he will give the 
proper signal. As the second baseman and short- 
stop may also take an important part in this play, 
it will be spoken of later. 

In conclusion let me say, that in order to accom- 
plish anything by these private signals the catcher 
must have them in such thorough working order that 



SIGNAIvING. 77 

no mistake can possibly occur. This may com.e only 
after long and patient practice ; some fielders find it 
almost impossible to work with signs, but they must 
be kept at it every day until the code becomes per- 
fectly familiar to them. 



CHAPTER V. 

THK FIRST BASEMAN. 

From the fact that the first baseman has more 
* * chances ' ' to his credit than any other player, it 
might seem to the casual observer that his is the most 
difficult position to play ; but as a matter of fact most 
of his chances are of a very simple nature, involving 
merely the catching of a thrown ball, and an exami- 
nation of the official averages will show him leading 
in the percentages year after year. The possibili- 
ties of the position, however, have been developing. 
For many years, and, indeed, until he retired from 
the diamond, " Old Reliable " Joe Start was the king 
of first basemen ; but, unquestionably, the play of 
such basemen as Connor, Commisky, and Morrill is a 
steady improvement, along with the rest of the game. 
Especially has there been an advance in the direction of 
fielding ground hits, and it is now not an unusual 
sight to see a first baseman getting a hit in short 
right field, and assisting in the put-out at first or 
second base. 

The position demands a tall man. Such a one, by 
his longer reach, will not only save many wide 
throws, but, because he is a good mark to throw at, 
will inspire confidence in the throwers. He must be 
able to catch a thrown ball, whether high, low, or on 
either side. As to the surest way of catching, opin- 
ions differ ; but as to the best way, everything con- 
78 



THK FIRST BASKMAN. 79 

sidered, I hold the same conditions to be true here as 
in the case of the catcher ; that is, for a high thrown 
ball the fingers should point not toward the ball, but 
upward, and for a low thrown ball, just the reverse. 
If the throw is off to either side, the baseman must 
shift his position so as to be able to reach it, and if 
it is so far wide that he must leave the base, he 
should not hesitate to do so ; he should not imagine 
that he is tied to the bag. Start was the first 
man I ever saw who knew how to leave the base 
for a wide throw. He never took the chance of a 
long reach for the ball, unless, of course, the game 
depended on that one put-out and there was no 
time to leave the base and return. He believed, and 
wdth reason, that it was better to first make sure of 
the ball and then touch the base, than, by trying to 
do both at once, see the ball sailing over into the 
side seats. 

It is a difl&cult play when the throw is to the base- 
man's left, in toward the runner, because of the dan- 
ger of a collision with the latter. To the average 
spectator who may never have had much experience 
on the field, these collisions between players may 
seem trifling affairs, but they are not so regarded by 
the players themselves. In the history of the sport 
many men have been seriously injured in this way, 
and a few killed outright. For two weeks once I 
was obliged to sleep nights in a sitting posture as 
the result of a shock of this kind, and it was months 
before I recovered entirely from its effects. To avoid 
a collision when the ball is thrown in this way many 
good basemen stand back of the line with the right 
foot touching the base, and allow the runner to pass 



80 BASK-BAIvI,. 

in front of them. There was one first baseman who 
used simply to reach in his left hand and pick the 
ball from in front of the runner with as much ease 
and safety as though it were thrown directly to him. 
I mean McKinnon, poor Al McKinnon ! What a 
flood of affectionate recollections his name brings 
back. Kind-hearted, full of fun, manly, honest, and 
straightforward to the last degree, he was one whose 
memory will always be green in the hearts of those 
w^ho knew him well. 

In picking up low thrown balls which strike the 
ground in front of the baseman, some become much 
more expert than others. One of the best, I think, 
is Phillips, who played last season with Brooklyn, 
and is now with the Kansas Gity Club. When the 
bound is what is called a ''short bound," that is, 
where it strikes but a few inches in front of the 
hands, the play is really not a difficult one if the 
ground is at all even'; but where it strikes from one 
to three feet beyond the hands, it requires consider- 
able skill to get it, especially if the ground cannot be 
depended upon for a regular bound. In this latter 
case the bound is too long for a ' ' pick-up ' ^ and too 
short for a long bound catch ; so that the only thing 
to do is to calculate as nearly as possible where the 
hall should bound and then try to get the hands in 
front of it. It will be found easier to reach the 
hands as far forward as possible and then '' give'* 
with the ball, that is, draw the hands back toward 
the body in the direction the ball should take on its 
rebound. A player should never turn his face away, 
even at the risk of being hit, for by watching the 
ball all the time, he may be able to change the posi- 



THE FIRST BASEMAN. 81 

tion of the hands enough to meet some slight mis- 
calculation as to the direction of the bound. 

In fielding ground-hits, the same rule applies to 
the first baseman as to every other fielder ; that he 
should get every hit he possibly can, with the single 
qualification that he shall avoid interference with other 
fielders. But as between a possible interference and 
a failure to go after a ball that should have been 
stopped, the interference is much to be preferred. 
There are some basemen who seem to think there is 
a line beyond which it is forbidden them to go ; they 
act as though they were tied to the base-post by a 
twenty-foot lariat. Having fielded a ground-hit, the 
baseman will usually himself run to the base ; but 
sometimes the hit is so slow or so far toward second 
or he fumbles it so long that there is no time left for 
him to do this. In such case he will toss the ball to 
the pitcher, who has covered the base. In making 
this play a baseman should not wait until the pitcher 
reaches the base before throwing, as it loses too much 
time, and he should not throw the ball at all, because 
it makes a difficult catch ; but he should pitch the 
ball easily in front of the pitcher so that he and the 
ball will both meet at the base. A little practice will 
make this play plain and simple, and the advantage 
of doing it in this way will easily be seen. 

There are times when, with runners on the bases, 
the play will not be to first, but to second, third, or 
home. With a runner on first, many batters try to 
hit into right field, because with the second baseman 
forced to cover second for a throw from the catcher, 
the space between first and second is left almost un- 
guarded. But if the first baseman will be on the 
6 



ill 



82 BASE)-BAI,I,. 

alert for such a hit, and throw the runner out at sec- 
ond, he not only balks the play but frightens follow- 
ing batters from attempting the same hit. With a 
runner on third and not more than one man out, all 
the in-fielders will play closer to the bat, so as to 
throw the runner out at home on an in-field hit ; in 
such case if the batter should strike out, and the 
third strike be dropped, the first baseman should not 
go to his base to receive the throw from the catcher, 
but meet it on the line as near as possible to the plate. 
He is then able to touch the runner on his way to 
first and to throw home if the man on third attempts 
to score on the throw to first. It may be possible to 
make a double play by first touching the runner to 
first and then throwing home ; but if the runner to 
first holds back and there is danger of the man from 
third scoring, it is obviously best to throw home and 
cut him off, ignoring entirely the runner to first. 

Another point in which many basemen are remiss 
is in backing up. On all throws from left or left- 
centre field to second base he should get in line with 
the throw, and on all throws from the same fields to 
the plate he should also assist in backing up, unless 
there is some special necessity for guarding his own 
base. 

There is a prevalent belief that it matters little 
whether a first baseman can throw well or not, but a 
moment's consideration will show the fallacy of this. 
There are some plays in which he needs to be a hard 
and accurate thrower ; with a runner on second and 
a ball hit to the in-field the runner will sometimes 
wait until it is thrown to first, and then start for 
third. In such case only the best kind of a return 



THK FIRST BASKMAN. 83 

by the first baseman will head him off. So also in 
long hits to extreme right field he may have to assist 
the fielder by a throw to third or home. 

It will thus be seen that there are points of play at 
first base which, in the hands of an ambitious fielder, 
may be developed into very considerable importance. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THK SECOND BASEMAN. 

Second base is the prettiest position to play of the 
entire in-field. In the number of chances offered it 
is next to first base, and in the character of the work 
to be done and the opportunities for brilliant play 
and the exercise of judgment, it is unsurpassed. It 
is true the second baseman has more territory to look 
after than any other in-fielder, but on account of the 
long distance he plays from the batter he has more 
time in which to cover it. The last moment allowed 
a fielder to get in the way of a ball is worth the first 
two, because one will be consumed in getting under 
headway. Then, too, the distance of his throw to 
first is generally short, and this allows him to fum- 
ble a hit and still get the ball there in time. So that 
while much of his work is of a difiicult kind, he is 
more than compensated by certain other advantages, 
and, so far as the percentage of chances accepted is 
concerned, he generally leads every one except the 
first baseman. 

The position should have a man of at least aver- 
age physical proportions. There are in every game 
a number of throws to second from all points of the 
field, and with a small man there many of them 
would be * * wild, ' ' on account of his lack of height 
and reach ; moreover, a larger man offers a better 
mark to throw at, and the liability to throw wildly 
84 



THE SECOND BASEMAN. 85 

is decreased because of the increased confidence on 
the part of the throwers. Then, too, a small man is 
not able to stand the continual collisions with base- 
runners, and as a number of his plays are attempts to 
retire runners from first, he grows timid after awhile 
and allows many clever sliders to get away from 
him. 

On the other hand, the position requires a very 
active player, and for this reason, too large a man 
would not be desirable On account of the large field 
he has to cover, he must possess the ability to run 
fast and to start and stop quickly ; he must be able 
to stoop and recover himself while still running, and 
be able, to throw a ball from any position. Not 
all his throws are of the short order ; sometimes 
he is expected to cut off a runner at third or return 
the ball to the catcher for the same purpose, and in 
these cases speed and accuracy are of the utmost im- 
portance. 

Because of the number and variety of plays that 
fall to his lot, he must be a man of some intel- 
ligence. With runners on the bases, the situations 
of a game change like the pictures in a kaleido- 
scope, so that there is not always time to consider 
what is the best play to make ; there are times when 
he must decide with a wit so quick that it amounts 
almost to instinct, for the loss of a fraction of a sec- 
ond may be the loss of the opportunity, and that one 
play mean ultimate defeat. 

The exact spot to play, in order best to cover the 
position, will be determined by the direction in which 
the batter is likely to hit, by his fleetness, and by the 
situation of the game. If there are no runners on the 



86 bas:e)-bai.i:.. 

bases the consideration of the batter will alone deter- 
mine ; if he is a right-field hitter the second baseman 
will play more toward the first baseman, the entire 
in-field moving around correspondingly ; and if he is 
a left-field hitter he will play toward second and back 
of the base, in either case playing back of the base 
line from fifteen to fifty feet, depending upon whether 
the batter is a very fleet or slow runner. If there are 
runners on the bases this fact will have to be taken 
into consideration ; for example, with a runner on 
second the baseman must play near enough to ' ' hold ' * 
the runner on the base and not give him so much 
ground that he can steal third ; or if there is a runner 
on first and the baseman is himself going to cover the 
base in case of a steal, he must be near enough to 
get there in time to receive the catcher's throw. On 
the other hand, he must not play too close or he 
.leaves too much open space between himself and the 
first baseman ; and, though playing far enough 
away, he should not start for the base until ^ he sees 
that the batter has not hit. It is not necessary that he 
be at the base waiting for the throw, but only that he 
make sure to meet it there. Pfeffer, of Chicago, plays 
this point better than any one, I think, and in all 
respects in handling a thrown ball, he is unex- 
celled. 

To catch a runner attempting to steal from first, 
most second basemen prefer to receive the ball a few 
feet to the side of the base nearest first and in front 
of the line. The first is all right because it allows the 
runner to be touched before getting too close to the 
base and avoids close decisions ; but I question the 
policy of the baseman being in front of the line in 



THK SKCOND BASKMAN. 87 

every instance. From this position it is extremely 
diifficult to touch a runner who throws himself en- 
tirely out and back of the line, re'aching for the base 
onl}^ with his hand. With a runner who is known 
to slide that way, I believe the baseman should stand 
back of the line ; it demoralizes the runner when he 
looks up and finds the baseman in the path where he 
had expected to slide, and it forces him to go into 
the base in a way different from what he had in- 
tended and from that to which he is accustomed. 
The veteran Bob Ferguson always stood back of the 
line, and more than once made shipwreck of my 
hopes when I might have evaded him if he had 
given me a chance to slide. The time taken in turn- 
ing around and reaching for the runner is often just 
enough to lose the play, whereas, standing back of 
the line, this time is saved, and, in addition, the base- 
man has the play and the runner's movements in 
front of him. 

With a runner on third and not more than one out, 
the batter may try to hit a ground ball to the in-field, 
sacrificing himself but allowing the runner from 
third to score. To prevent this the in-fielders will 
generally play nearer the bat, so as to return the ball to 
the catcher in time to cut off the runner, and how close 
they must play will depend, of course, upon the fleet- 
ness of the runner. Even then the ball may be hit 
so slowly or fielded in such a way as to make the 
play at the plate impossible, in which case the fielder 
will try to retire the batter at first. 

With runners on first and third the one on first 
will often try to steal second, and if the catcher throws 
down to catch him, the one on third goes for home. 



88 BASK-BAI.I,. 

To meet this play on the part of the runners is by no 
means easy, but it can nevertheless be done. If the 
one run will not affect the general result of the game, 
it may be well to pay no attention to the runner from 
third and try only to put out the one from first, thus 
clearing the bases. But if it is necessary to prevent 
the run scoring, the second baseman must be prepared 
to return the ball to the catcher in case the runner 
starts for home. In order to gain as much time as 
possible, he should take a position to receive the 
catcher's throw ten feet inside of the base-line ; keep- 
ing one eye on the ball and the other on the runner 
at third, if he sees the runner start for home, he must 
meet the throw as quickly as possible and return the 
ball to the catcher ; if the runner does not start, the 
baseman should step quickly backward so that 
by the time the ball reaches him he will be 
near enough to the base-line to touch the runner 
from first. The play is a difficult one and requires 
more than the ordinary amount of skill and prac- 
tice. There is another and, I think, better way 
of making this play, which will be spoken of under 
* ' The Short-stop, ' ' because that player is principally 
interested. 

Before the enactment of the rule confining the 
coachers to a limited space the coacher at third base 
sometimes played a sharp trick on the second base- 
man. When the catcher threw the ball, the coacher 
started down the base-line toward home, and the sec- 
ond baseman, seeing only imperfectly, mistook him 
for the runner and returned the ball quickly to the 
catcher. The result was that the runner from first 
trotted safely to second, the runner at third remained 



THK SKCOND BASKMAN. 89 

there, and everybody laughed except the second 
baseman. 

In fielding ground-hits the second baseman, be- 
cause of his being so far removed from the bat, has a 
better chance to *' judge" a hit. He is able either 
to advance or recede a step or more to meet the ball 
on a high bound ; and on account of the short throw 
to first he may take more liberties with such a hit ; 
it is not absolutely necessary that he field every ball 
cleanly, because he may fumble a hit and still make 
his play. In general, however, he should meet a hit 
as quickly as possible, so that if fumbled he may 
have the greatest amount of time to recover and 
throw. He should also, if possible, get squarely in 
front of every hit, thus making his feet, legs, and 
body assist in stopping the ball in case it eludes his 
hands. When not possible to get directly in front of 
the ball he must still try to stop it with both hands 
or with one, for he may then recover it in time to 
make the play. 

Having secured the ball, he should wait only long 
enough to steady himself before throwing. He should 
not hold the ball a moment longer than is necessary. 
In some cases he has not time to straighten up before 
throwing, but must snap the ball underhand; and 
where he gets the hit near enough to the base he 
should not throw at all, \>ut pitch the ball to the base- 
man ; this makes the play much safer. When there 
is a runner on first and the ball is hit to the second 
baseman, he tries for a double play, and there are four 
ways in which it may be made. First, if he gets the 
ball before the runner from first reaches him he may 
touch the runner and then throw to first base before 



-rr- 



90 base;-bai.i.. 

the batter gets there. Second, if the runner from first 
stops so that he can't be touched, the baseman drives 
him back toward first as far as possible and throws 
there in time to put out the batter ; the other run- 
ner, being then caught between the bases, is run 
down, completing the double. Third, if the hit is 
near enough to the base he may touch second and 
then throw to first to head off the batter. And, 
fourth, he may first pass the ball to the short-stop, 
who has covered second, and the latter throws to first 
in time to put out the batter. In nine cases out of 
ten the last is the safest play ; it makes sure of the 
runner to second and is more likely to catch the bat- 
ter, because the short-stop is in better shape to throw 
to first than the baseman would be if he attempted 
to make the play unassisted. 

The second baseman should take not only all fly 
hits in his own territory, but also all falling back of 
the first baseman, and back of the short-stop tovvard 
centre field. In all these cases he gets a better view 
of the ball than either of the other players named, 
because, instead of running backward, as they would 
be obliged to do, he runs to the side, and the catch is 
thus easier for him. If the hit is one which can be 
reached by an out-fielder, and the latter calls that 
he will take it, the second baseman will, of course, 
give way, because the fielder has the ball in front 
of him, in a better position even than the baseman. 

With a runner on second he must be on the look- 
out for the catcher's signal to the pitcher to throw to 
second, and on seeing this he must start at once for 
the base to receive the pitcher's throw. He must 
also watch for the catcher's sign to the second base- 



THE SKCOND BASEMAN. 91 

man notifying him of an intention to throw, and 
while the ball is passing from the pitcher to the 
catcher, get to the base to receive the throw. 

He should ' ' back up ' ' throws to the first baseman 
whenever possible, leaving his own base to be cov- 
ered by the short-stop. He should assist the right and 
centre fielders in the return of long hits, running well 
out into the field to receive the out-fielder's throw. 
When plays arise other than those here mentioned 
his judgment must tell him what to do, and, with- 
out neglecting his own position, he must not hesitate 
to take any part to advance his team's interests. 



CHAPTER VIL 

THK THIRD BASKMAN. 

In the early days of the game, when the pitching 
was slower and " fair- foul " hits were allowed, the 
third base position was the busiest and most diffi- 
cult to play of the in-field. But the changes in the 
rules, which did away with ' ' fair- foul ' ' hitting, and 
those which introduced the present pace in pitching, 
have taken away much of the third baseman's im- 
portance. Most of the in-field hitting now is toward 
short-stop and second base, and the best of third 
basemen are not able to average over three or four 
chances to a game. But, though the amount of his 
work has been diminished, it still retains its difficult 
nature. The length of the throw to first, and the 
short time given him in which to make it, occasion 
many wild throws, and if he fumbles the ball at all, 
the opportunity is lost. Fleet runners who hit left- 
handed, and others who merely ''bunt'* the ball, 
can be caught only by the quickest and cleanest 
work ; so that, everything considered, it is not sur- 
prising to find the third baseman generally at the 
foot of the in-field averages. 

/A third baseman, like a second baseman, should 
be a man of at least average size, and Denny, who is 
by long odds the best in the profession, is a large 
man.^He will have a longer reach for both thrown 
and batted balls, he will be a better mark to throw 
92 



THE THIRD BASKMAN. 93 

at, and, by reason of his superior weight, he will 
have more confidence in the face of reckless base-run- 
ning. But not every player of proper size who can 
stop a ball and throw it accurately to first is capable 
of becoming a good third baseman. The New York 
team of 1887 demonstrated the odd fact that a man 
who seemed entirely unable to play second base, 
could yet play third in good style, while another who 
was but an average third baseman could take care of 
vSecond equal to any one. The explanation probably 
lies in the fact that the positions require men of dif- 
ferent temperaments. At second base a player of 
nervous tendency grows anxious waiting for the ball 
to come, and by the time it reaches him is unable to 
get it in his hands, while at third base, where the 
action is much quicker, such a man is perfectly at 
home, because he is not given time to become ner- 
vous. The same curious fact is seen when an in- 
fielder is changed to an out-field position ; he finds 
it impossible, at first, to stop ground-hits, because 
they seem never to be going to reach him, and 
he is completely * ' rattled ' ' by the long wait. For 
the same reason the most difficult hits which an in- 
fielder has to handle are the slow, easy, bounding 
balls that under ordinary circumstances a child could 
stop. 

The proper place for a third baseman to play must 
be governed by the nature of the case. For an ordi- 
nary right-hand batter, likely to hit in any direction, 
and no one on the bases, he should play from fifteen 
to twenty feet toward second and several feet back of 
the base line. For a very fast runner he should 
move nearer the batter, and, if there is danger of a 



ss 



94 BASK-BAI,!,. 

*' bunt, ' ' he may even have to play well inside the dia- 
mond, though, as before said, all such hits should be 
attended to by the pitcher. For a batter who hits 
along the foul-line, he will play nearer his base, and 
for one who invariably hits toward right-field, he will 
move around toward second base, going, in some 
instances, even as far as the short-stop's regular posi- 
tion. For left-hand hitters he will generally have to 
play nearer the bat, because these players always 
get to first quicker than right-hand batters. They 
are five or six feet nearer first base, and by the swing 
of the bat they get a much quicker start. If there is a 
runner on third and not more than one out, he will 
have to play near the base before the ball is pitched, 
the object being to give the runner as little start as 
possible, so that he cannot score on a sacrifice hit. 
When the ball is pitched the baseman runs off to his 
proper position, unless, of course, he has received a 
signal from the catcher to expect a throw. 

The third baseman should go after not only all 
hits coming within his position proper, but also all 
slow hits toward short-stop, for the latter is some- 
times unable to field such hits in time to make the put- 
out, on account of the longer distance he plays from 
the home base. The baseman should, however, avoid 
useless interference with the short-stop, and he 
should not put down one hand or otherwise balk 
that player on a hit plainly within the latter' s reach. 

Having stopped a batted ball, he should throw it as 
quickly as possible after having regained his bal- 
ance, so that if the aim be slightly inaccurate the 
first baseman may have time to leave the base and re- 
turn. If there is a runner on first, the baseman's throw 



THK THIRD BASKMAN. 95 

will be to second ; this will, at least, cut off the run- 
ner from first, and possibly a double play may be 
made, if the ball can be sent to first ahead of the 
striker. If there are runners on both first and 
second at the time of the hit, he may either 
throw to second for the double play as before, 
taking the chance of catching two men, or he may 
make sure of one man by simply touching the 
third base, forcing out the runner from second. 
Finally, there may be a runner on third and not more 
than one out, in which case, if the runner on third 
starts home, he will usually try to cut him off by a 
throw to the catcher, though possibly he may still 
deem it best to throw to some other base. In any 
case, what is the best play he must determine for 
himself, and he will expedite his decision by having a 
thorough understanding of the situation before the 
play arises. 

The third baseman should receive a signal from 
the catcher when the latter intends throwing to him 
to catch a runner '* napping." The runner always 
takes considerable ground in order to score on a slow 
hit to the in-field, or on a short passed ball. By a sig- 
nal, received before the pitcher delivers the ball, the 
baseman knows that the catcher will throw, and dur- 
ing the delivery he gets to the base to receive it. And 
here, again, the best base runners are oftenest caught 
because they take the most ground. If the batter hits 
at the ball the runner takes an extra start, and a quick 
throw to the base will very often catch him before he 
can get back. It vshould, therefore, be understood that, 
in every case when the batter strikes at the ball and 
misses it, the catcher will throw to third, whether or 



96 BASK-BA.!,!.. 

not he has previously given the signal. In touch- 
ing a runner the baseman must not run away from 
him ; he must expect to get spiked occasionally, for, 
if he is thinking more of his own safety than of 
making the put-out, he will lose many plays by 
allowing runners to slide under or around him. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SHORT-STOP. 

Zl Originally, it is said, the short-stop's chief function 
was as tender to the pitcher, though this soon be- 
came an unimportant feature of his work. The pos- 
sibilities of the position as a factor in field play were 
early developed ; such fielders as George Wright and 
Dick Pearce soon showed that it could be made one 
of the most important of the in-field. But the same 
legislation which almost crowded the third baseman 
out of the game, affected materially the short-stop's 
work, and it is only within the past couple of years 
that he has regained his former prominent place. .7 

During 1887 there was more hitting to short than 
to any other in-field position ; though the second 
baseman averaged more *' total chances," on ac- 
count of a greater number of '' put-outs, " the ''as- 
sists " were in favor of the short-stop. 

The conception of the position has also undergone 
some changes, and when, therefore, I say that the 
position is now played more effectively than ever, it 
is not to assert that the players of the present are bet- 
ter than those of the past, but simply that these 
changes have been in the line of improvement, that 
the short-stop now makes plays never thought of in 
former years— in short, that the development of the 
position has kept pace with the rest of the game. 

In the early days short-stop was played on the 
7 97 



98 BASK-BAI,!,. 

base line from second to third, or even several feet 
inside the diamond ; now it is played from ten to 
twenty and sometimes thirty feet back of the line. 
The result is a vast increase in the amount of terri- 
tory covered ; hits are now fielded on either side 
which once were easily safe ; short flies to the out- 
field, which formerly fell between the in and out- 
fielders, are now, many of them, caught ; the short- 
stop backs up the second and third bases, helps 
''hold" a runner on second, and, on a throw from 
pitcher or catcher, the second base is covered by him 
almost as often as by the baseman himself. Playing 
so much further from the batter, he will make more 
errors ; he can seldom fumble a hit and still make 
the play ; his throw to first is longer, and must there- 
fore be swifter and more accurate ; J)ut for these dis- 
advantages to himself he is repaid many fold by an 
increased usefulness to his team. All these features 
together make the position very different from what 
it was some years ago, and in point of effectiveness 
it has undoubtedly been improved. 

A short-stop should be a player of more than ordi- 
nary suppleness and activity. He has a large amount 
of ground to cover ; he has to field sharpty hit balls 
on either side, and must therefore be able to start 
and stop quickly ; he is often obliged to stoop, re- 
cover himself, and throw while running, and so has 
no time to get his feet tangled. Moreover, his pres- 
ence is often required at widely separated portions of 
the field, with very brief intervals allowed him for 
making the changes. He may have to field a hit to 
first from near second base, and at once, in continu- 
ation of the same play, back up third on the return 



THK SHORT-STOP 99 

of the ball from first base. Or, from a close in-field 
position one moment, he may be called the next to 
far left-field to assist in the return of a long hit. So 
that he needs to be awake all the time and able to 
transfer himself without delay to that part of the 
field in which his services are required. On account 
of the length of his throw to first base, and because 
he is often expected to assist in the return of a long 
hit to the out-field, he should be a good, hard 
thrower. He should also be able to throw from any 
posture, because there are occasions when he has no 
time to straighten up and pull himself together before 
throwing. 

In chances for skillful plays and the employment 
of judgment, short-stop is second to no other position 
on the in- field. He is tied to no base, but is at 
liberty to go anywhere he may be most needed, and 
he is thus able to make himself very useful at times, in 
plays altogether out of his position proper. But to 
make the best use of these advantages he must be pos- 
sessed of some intelligence and a wit quick enough to 
see the point and act before the opportunity has passed. 
Brains are as much a necessity in base-ball as in 
any other profession. The best ball players are the 
most intelligent, though, of course, natural intelli- 
gence is here meant and not necessarily that whicti 
is derived from books. 

The proper place for the short-stop to play will be 
governed always by the particular circumstances, as 
explained in the preceding chapters with reference to 
other in-fielders. If there are no runners on the bases, 
regard for the batter alone will determine, but if there 
are runners, this fact, and the situation of the game, 



100 • BASK-BAI,!,. 

must be taken into consideration. A glance at the 
diagram of the field given in Chapter I will show the 
usual position of all the fielders, but from these points 
they may greatly vary. If the batter generally hits 
along the left foul-line, the short-stop will play nearer 
the third baseman, and if, on the other hand, the 
batter hits toward right-field, the short-stop will 
move toward second, even going so far as to be di- 
rectly back of the pitcher, the entire in-field, of 
course, moving around correspondingly. 

If the batter is a heavy runner, the short-stop may 
play a deep field, because he will still have sufficient 
time to get the ball to first ; and so, also, if there is a 
runner on first, he may play well back, because his 
throw then, on a hit, is only to second base. If he 
is covering second base either to catch a runner from 
first or to hold a runner on second who has already 
reached there, he must play near enough to the base 
to be able to receive the throw. Or, if the attempt is 
to be made to cut off at the plate a runner trying to 
score on a sacrifice hit, he will play on the base-line 
or a few feet inside the diamond. 

All in-fielders, as well as out-fielders, should be wil- 
lingly guided as to the position to play by a signal 
from the pitcher. The latter, knowing what kind of 
tall he is going to give the batsman to hit, is best 
able to judge beforehand of the direction of the hit. 

The short-stop should cover second base in all 
cases where there is a runner on first and the batter 
is one likely to hit to right-field. This allows the 
second baseman to guard the territory between second 
and first, which he would not otherwise be able to 
do, and if the ball is hit to him, he throws to the 



THK SHORT-STOP. 101 

short-stop at second, forcing out the runner from 
first. 

He should also guard second when there is a run- 
ner on that base and the baseman is obliged to play 
well off for a hit toward right-field. Of course, he 
does not play on the base, but near enough to be able to 
reach it if the pitcher or catcher wishes to throw there. 

Another instance in which he may take the base is 
when there are runners on first and third and the 
runner on first starts for second. One way of making 
this play was described in speaking of ' ' The Second 
Baseman," but it is believed that it may be much 
better done with the assistance of the short-stop. 
With runners on first and third, the catcher signals 
whether he will make a long or short throw toward 
second. When the runner on first starts down, the 
second baseman runs inside the diamond to a point 
in line with the base, and the short-stop goes to the 
base. If the throw is long, the short-stop receives 
the ball and touches the runner, or returns it quickly 
to the plate if the runner on third starts in. If the 
throw is short, the second baseman receives the ball 
and returns it to the catcher ; or, if the runner on 
third does not start home, the baseman may still have 
time to turn and toss the ball to the short-stop to 
catch the runner from first. In deciding to give the 
signal for a short or long throw, the catcher is guided 
by the circumstances of the case and the situation of 
the game. If one run is going to materially affect the 
result of the game, the throw will be short, so that 
the ball may be surely returned to the catcher before 
the runner from third scores. If the run is not vital, 
the throw may still be short if the runner at third is 



102 BASK-BAI.I.. 

speedy ; but if he is slow and not likely to chance the 
run home, the throw will be all the way to the short- 
stop to put out the runner from first. The success 
of the play lies in the fact that the runner on third 
can never tell, until too late, whether the throw is to 
be short or long. The play was first made in this way 
by Gerhardt and myself in 1886, and during the past 
two seasons it has been tried in the New York team 
many times with the best results. Each player must, 
however, understand his part and all work together. 
In a recent game against Philadelphia, on the Polo 
Grounds, Crane, who had never taken part in the 
play before, gave Fogarty a ball within reach and he 
hit it through the short-stop position, left unguarded 
by my having gone to cover second base. 

On all hits to left and left centre-fields, the short- 
stop should take second, allowing the baseman to 
back up the throw, and on all hits to right and right 
centre the baseman will take the base and the short- 
stop attend to the backing up. 

In fielding ground hits the short-stop should ob- 
serve the general principles for such plays. He 
should, if possible, get directly and squarely in front 
of every hit, making his feet, legs, and body assist 
in stopping the ball, in case it gets through his hands. 

If the ball comes on a '' short bound," he should 
not push the hands forward to meet it, but, having 
reached forward, *^ give " with the ball by drawing 
back the hands in the direction the ball should 
bound. In this way if the ball does not strike the 
hands fairly, its force will at least be deadened so 
that it will fall to the ground within reach of the 
player ; whereas, if he pushes his hands forward and 



THK SHORT-STOP. 



103 



the ball does not strike fairly, it will be driven too 
far away. 

He should meet every hit as quickly as possible, 
so that if fumbled he may still have time to recover 
the ball and make the play. In running in to meet 
the ball, he must not forget the importance of steadi- 
ness, and to this end should get himself in proper 




form just before the ball reaches him. What is meant 
by ' ' good form ' ' may be seen by the above cut. 
The feet, legs, hands, arms, and body are all made to 
assist in presenting an impassable front to the ball. 

If base-ball diamonds were perfectly true the 
bound of the ball might be calculated with mathe- 
matical precision, but unfortunately they are not, 
and these precautions become necessary. 

There should be an understanding between the 



104 BASK-BAI,!,. 

short-stop and third baseman that the latter is to take 
all slow hits toward short, and as many hard hits as 
he can fairly and safely field. The effect of the base- 
man's covering ground in this way is to allow the 
short-stop to play a deeper field and farther toward 
second base. Some players do not like the idea of 
another fielder taking hits which seem more properly 
to belong to themselves, but this is the correct way 
for a short-stop and third baseman to work, and be- 
tween two men, playing only for the team's success, 
there will never be any dispute. 

It is always best, when possible, to use both hands 
to stop or catch a ball ; but sometimes a hit is so far 
to either side, or so high, that it can only be reached 
with one hand. Therefore, a short-stop shouldprac- 
tice one-hand play so that he may be able to use it 
when the emergency requires. He should never at- 
tempt it at any other time. 

Having secured a batted ball, he should throw it 
at once, waiting only long enough to regain his bal- 
ance and make sure of his aim. The practice of 
holding the ball for a moment and looking at the run- 
ner, whether done to demonstrate the fielder's per- 
fect sangfroid, or to make a swift and pretty throw 
for the benefit of the grand stand, is altogether 
wrong. Generally, the throw will be to first, though 
sometimes there will be an opportunity to put out 
another runner, in which case it will be to some other 
base. In throwing to second or third, if he is near 
the base, he should pass the ball to the baseman by 
an easy, underhand toss. It is a difiicult play to 
catch a thrown ball when the thrower is quite near ; 
besides, in making double plays by way of second base, 



THE SHORT-STOP. 105 

any time lost in tossing the ball will be more than 
regained by the quicker handling, and there is the 
additional inducement of safety. 

In making double plays to second it is almost 
always better to pass the ball to the baseman and 
allow him to throw to first, than for the short-stop to 
attempt to. make the play alone. ^ In 1882, a couple 
of weeks before the season closed, the Providence 
Club reached Chicago with the pennant all but won ; 
one game from Chicago would have made it sure. 
In about the sixth inning of the last game, with the 
score four to two in our favor, the first two Chicago 
batters reached their bases. Kelly then hit to George 
Wright at short, who passed the ball to Farrell, re- 
tiring the runner from first, but Jack threw a little 
high to Start and missed the double. With runners 
on first and third, the next man, Anson, hit hard to 
Wright, so that he had plenty of time again for a 
double. But, this time, instead of passing the ball 
to Farrell, as before, George attempted to make the 
play alone. He touched second, but, by the time he 
was ready to throw Kelly came against him, and the 
result was a wild throw, and, to complete the disas- 
ter, the ball rolled through a small opening under a 
gate and both runners scored. We were beaten 
finally six to five, and lost the championship. It 
should be added that the game would have been won 
again in the eighth inning but for the unpardonable 
stupidity of one of the Providence base-runners. 7 

By far the most difficult catch on a ball field is that 
of a ball hit high to the in-field, because of the great 
' ' twist ' ' to the ball. The slightest failure to get the 
ball fairly in the hands will result in a miss, and yet 



106 



BASK-BAI,!,. 



this is always greeted by derisive liowls from certain 
among the spectators. There are various styles of 
catching these hits, but the position of the hands 
shown in the accompanying cut is believed to be the 
best. 

The hands should be reached well up to meet 
the ball and then brought down easily in the line of 




its course. If the hands and arms are held stiff, the 
ball will rebound from them as though it had struck 
a stone. The use of a glove on one hand may be 
found helpful in counteracting the effect of the twist. 
The short-stop is expected to try for all such hits 
falling in his own position, and also all falling back 
of the third baseman and in short left-field. 



THK SHORT-STOP. 107 

With runners on bases, a double play may some- 
times be made by allowing such a hit to first strike 
the ground. In order that the ball may not bound 
beyond reach, it should be caught or *' picked up " 
on the short bound, and to do this safely requires a 
great deal of skill. It is a pretty play, and often of 
invaluable service, and it should therefore be prac- 
ticed carefully until it can be made with approximate 
safety. The short-stop must not betray beforehand 
his intention, but pretend that he is going to catch 
the ball on the fly. 

With all signals given by the catcher to the differ- 
ent in-fielders the short-stop must be perfectly famil- 
iar, in order that he may be prepared to do his part. 
If there is to be a throw to second or third he should 
know it, so that he can be ready to back up in case 
the throw is wide or breaks through the baseman's 
hands. So, too, he must know when to expect a 
throw if he himself be covering second. 

In all cases where a runner is caught between 
bases, the short-stop must take part. If the play is 
between first and second or between second and third, 
he and the second baseman alternate in backing one 
another up on one side of the runner, while the other 
baseman and the pitcher do the same on the other 
side. If it is between third and home, he and the 
third baseman attend to one side, while the catcher 
and pitcher look after the other. In every case the 
base runner should be run down as quickly as pos- 
sible, and always toward the base farthest from the 
home plate, so that if an error is made the runner 
will gain no advantage. 

In backing up other fielders a short-stop may be 



108 BASK-BAI.I.. 

of great service, and he should do this in every pos- 
sible case, no matter where the play may be. But 
the positions which he is specially bound to back up 
are the second and third bases, not only on all throws 
from the catcher, but from any other fielder, where it 
is possible for him to get in line with the throw. He 
must not get too close to the baseman but keep a 
sufficient distance back of him to make sure of get- 
ting in front of the ball. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THK IvKFT-FIKIyDKR. 

The simplest of the three out-field positions is the 
left-field, and one evidence of this is seen by the fact 
that a left-fielder almost invariably leads in the aver- 
ages. 

If fielding were the only consideration, the man 
who was the surest catch, who could run the fastest 
and throw the longest, would be the best man for the 
left-field position ; but other points enter into the 
question. A team, to win, must have hitters as well 
as fielders, and it is therefore usual to fill up the out- 
field with good batters, even at the expense of a 
slight weakness in fielding. 

Considered simply as a fielder, the occupant of the 
left-field should have a good '^eye" to ''judge" a 
ball hit in the air. The moment the hit is made he 
must be able to tell*its direction and locate the place 
where it is going to fall. The best fielders acquire a 
remarkable skill in this respect and are able to decide 
these things at a glance. The fielder who is obliged 
to keep his eye on the ball all the time it is in the air 
will not cover nearly so much ground as the one who 
is able to put down his head and run until near the 
ball. Particularly is this true of a fly hit over the 
fielder's head. The player who attempts to run 
backwards or sideways for the ball, or who turns his 
back to the ball but keeps his head twisted around 

109 



110 BASE-BAI,!.. 

SO as to see it, will not begin to get the hits that a 
man will who is able to locate the hit exactly and 
then turn and run until he has reached the spot 
where the ball is going to fall. If the eyesight is 
good any fielder can learn to do this, all it requires 
being sufficient practice and plenty of confidence. 

Another qualification for a fielder is the ability to 
start quickly and run fast. The player who excels 
in these respects will, of course, get more hits than 
one who starts and runs slowly. 

Next, he must be a sure catch on a batted ball, no 
matter in what shape he may be obliged to take it, 
whether running toward or with the ball, and 
whether it be high, low, or on either side. Many 
fielders are sure of a ball if they can get it in a particu- 
lar position or at a certain height, but this is not 
enough, for it is not always possible to do this. A 
player who feels himself weak on any point should 
practice and practice upon that particular thing until 
he has mastered it. If he can catch hits on his 
right better than on his left side, let him practice 
catching only on the left ; if he is weak on hits over 
his head, he should have some one bat to him thus, 
until he has overcome the weakness. Any failing 
of this nature may be corrected by practice. 

A fly ball should never be caught holding the 
hands and arms rigid. The fielder should reach up 
to meet the ball and then bring the hands down 
easily with it. There are some balls hit to the out- 
field, as well as to the in-field, which the fielders can- 
not possibly reach with both hands but may be able 
to get with one. In a game played to-day (May 7th), 
between New York and Indianapolis, Hines, of the 



THK I.KFT-FI]B:i,DKR. Ill 

latter Club, made a marvelous one-hand catch of a 
hit that would otherwise have been good for three 
bases ; and the effect of that one play off the first 
New York batter was so bracing to the rest of the 
Indianapolis team that it probably accounted for the 
strong and winning game they afterwards played. 
So that, while discountenancing one-hand plays when 
two hands may be used, I still think every fielder 
should practice one-hand catches, to be prepared for 
such a play when it becomes necessary. 

In fielding balls hit along the ground, the fielder 
should not wait until the ball comes to him, but run 
in to meet it as quickly as possible. Then, if fum- 
bled, he may still have time to get it back to the in- 
field before base runners can take an extra base. 

The instant an out-fielder gets a ball in his hands 
he should throw it to some point in the in-field. The 
habit of holding a ball is extremely dangerous. If 
the bases are clear and a single base-hit is made the 
ball should be sent at once to second base. If there 
is a runner on first, it should be thrown to third base, 
because if sent to second a bold runner will some- 
times keep right on to third. If there is a runner on 
second when the hit is made and the left-fielder 
secures the ball quickly, he should throw it to third, 
because most runners will over-run that base in order 
to draw the throw to the home plate, and a quick throw 
to the base will catch them before they can return. 

The left-fielder is expected to back up the second 
and third bases on a throw from first base or right- 
field. He should also back up third on a throw from 
the catcher, and to this end must be on the look-out 
for the catcher' s signal. He must also back up the cen- 



112 BASK-BAI,!,. 

tre-fielder when that player runs in to meet a hit, 
for, though he may not be able to get in front of the 
ball, he will still be able to recover it quicker than 
the centre-fielder in case it gets by the latter. He 
should also get near the centre-fielder when the lat- 
ter is trying for a high fly, so that if the ball is missed 
he may assist in sending it quickly to the in-field. 

As soon as a fielder has decided that he can get to 
a hit and has made up his mind to take it, he should 
call out loudly and distinctly, ''I'll take it." That 
gives every one else warning to keep out of the way, 
and avoids the chance of collisions. On the other 
hand, if he is running for a hit and hears some other 
fielder call out, he should reply, quickly and clearly, 
*' Go ahead." That gives the other fielder confidence, 
and he need not hesitate or take his eye from the 
ball to learn the location of other fielders. If this 
very simple rule is observed there will never be any 
collisions, nor will any hits that should be caught be 
allowed to drop between fielders. 

On all long hits out of the fielder's reach he should 
go after the ball with all possible speed and return 
it to the in-fielder, who has gone out to help him 
back wdth the ball. If he misses a fly he should get 
after the ball at once and send it to the proper point 
on the in-field, and not walk after it simply because 
he has missed it. 

Andy Leonard, of the old Bostons, was, in his day, 
one of the best of left-fielders. He was particularly 
strong on balls hit over his head, which he always 
took over his shoulder while running with the di- 
rection of the hit. He was also a remarkably hard 
and accurate thrower. ! 



CHAPTER X. 

THE) CENTRA FIE)I,D:e:r. 

Much of what has been said with reference to the 
left fielder is applicable also to the occupant of the 
centre field. As a fielder only, it is necessary that he 
should possess the same powers of ''judging'' a hit 
quickly, of starting the instant the hit is made, of 
running fast until he has reached it, and of catching 
the ball in any position ; but as a fielder and batter as 
well, his fielding qualities are often overlooked, to a 
certain extent, in favor of his power as a batter. 

Many fielders prefer to catch a ball while they are 
running and so regulate their speed as to be still on 
the move when they meet the ball. Some of them 
do this because they can catch a ball better in that 
way, and others because they think it looks prettier 
and pleases the grand stand ; they are continuallj^ 
making what appear to be difficult catches, and they 
occasionally fall down and roll over to add to the 
effect. But while this may deceive the average 
spectator, it never escapes the other players, and they 
soon grow extremely weary of such gymnastics. And 
after awhile the spectators, too, discover his tricks, and 
then the player will not get credit even for the really 
good work he may do. Another thing to be said against 
this grand-stand style of play is that these players 
sometimes miscalculate the direction or force of a hit 

113 



114 BASK-BAI,!,. 

just enough to lose it, whereas if they had run hard 
at first the ball would have been easily caught. The 
safest plan is to get under the hit as quickly as pos- 
sible and then there will be time to correct any slight 
misjudgment. 

In fielding balls hit along the ground, the out- 
fielder should run in quickly to meet the ball and 
return it instantly to the proper point on the in-field. 
I have seen games lost by out-fielders stupidly hold- 
ing a ball or returning it lazily to the in-field. 
There is absolutely nothing to be gained but every- 
thing to be lost by such plays. 

In throwing to any point on the in-field, if the 
throw is at all a long one, the fielder should line the 
ball in on the bound. An out-fielder should never 
attempt a long throw on the fly, to first or third or 
home. A throw on the first bound will reach there 
just as quickly, more accurately, and with less chance 
of getting by the fielder to whom it is thrown. 

The centre fielder must back up second base on all 
throws from the catcher, and also on throws from any 
other position, whenever possible. On throws from 
the direction of first base he will be assisted by the 
left fielder and from the direction of third base by the 
right fielder. When a runner is stealing second base 
and the catcher's throw is wild, the centre fielder 
must meet the ball quickly so as to prevent the run- 
ner from going on to third. In a case of this kind a 
crafty runner will often make a feint to run to third in 
order to force the fielder to throw the ball in the hope 
that he may throw it wild. If there is a probability 
that the runner actually intends to go to third, there 
is nothing left the fielder but to throw and take the 



THK CENTRE FlEIyDER. 115 

chance. But if the fielder has good reason to suspect 
the honesty of the runner's intentions, a quick throw 
to second, instead of to third, will often catch him be- 
fore he can return. 

The centre fielder should also back up the left and 
right fielders on all hits along the ground which 
either of them runs in to meet. It gives one fielder 
more confidence to go in quickly after a ball if he 
knows there is another fielder behind him to stop it 
in case it passes himself. 

Even on an in-field hit to the second baseman or 
short-stop the out-fielder should move in at once, so 
as to be able to recover the ball quickly if it gets 
through the in-field. 

When a runner is caught between first and second 
or second and third bases, the centre fielder should 
get in line with the play, back of second base. For, 
while only four players take an active part in such 
a play others should back up to provide for the pos- 
sibility of a wild throw. 

The necessity of ' ' calling " for a fly hit applies 
with particular force to the centre fielder. As soon 
as he has seen that he can get to a hit and has de- 
cided to take it, he calls out loudly so that every one 
must hear, '' I'll take it," and all the other fielders 
near him respond, " Go ahead." This will avoid all 
danger of collisions to which he is specially exposed 
by having a fielder on either side. 

On all high flys to another out-fielder he should go 
near the fielder who is attempting to make the catch, 
so that if the ball is missed and bounds his way, he 
can recover it quickly and prevent runners from gain- 
ing extra bases. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THK RIGHT FIKI<DKR. 

The right field, when properly played, is the most 
difficult of the out-field positions. A. ball hit in that 
direction by a right-handed hitter always describes a 
curve and is therefore very hard to judge. A good 
right fielder should also throw out many men at first 
base during a season, and this means that he must pos- 
sess all the qualifications of an in-fielder. A few years 
ago it was not an unusual thing to see a batsman 
thrown out at first on a hit into right field. One of 
the best fielders for this was George Shaffer, who for 
several seasons played with the Cleveland Club. 
Another good man was '* Jake " Evans, of the Troy 
Club, and when with the Providence Club, Dorgan 
seldom let a game go by without catching one or 
more men in this way. 

Of late this is not done so often, for the reason that 
the right fielder plays a much deeper field now than 
he did a few years ago. Then, when the " curve " 
was still a novelty, there were very few hard hits 
made to right field by right-handed batters. Still, 
even now, there are many batters for whom there is 
no reason to play a deep right field, and such a batter 
should often be thrown out at first Yet the only 
player whom I have seen make the play this season 
116 



the: right FIKI.DKR. 117 

was Brcwn, of Boston, who threw out Titcomb twice 
hi one game on the Polo Ground. 

All that has been said about the other out-fielders 
as to judging a hit, starting, running, and catching, 
may be said of the right fielder. Equally with them 
he must locate a hit instantly, start quickly, run 
speedily, and be able to catch the ball in whatever 
form he may reach it. In judging a hit the fielder 
always takes into consideration the force and direc- 
tion of the wind — with the effect of which he has be- 
come familiar in the preliminary practice— and the 
curve which the ball is likely to take if hit by a 
right-hand batter. 

In fielding ground-hits he meets the ball quickly, 
and, where possible to catch the batter at first, he 
throws there on the fly. The reason for throwing so 
in this instance is, that if he is near enough to catch 
the man at all, he is near enough to throw accurately 
on the fly. But to third base or home he should 
always throw on the bound. 

He should back up first base on all throws from 
the catcher. He also should assist the centre fielder 
in backing up second base, and to this end run back 
of the centre fielder when the latter goes in to meet 
the ball ; so that if it passes one, the other will still 
be there to stop it. He should also back up the cen- 
tre fielder on all ground-hits to the latter, and on all 
fly hits to him he should go near so as to quickly re- 
cover the ball if it be missed. 

He should ' * call ' ' for the ball the moment he has 
decided to take it, and as between an out-fielder and 
an in-fielder the former will take any hit he can 
reach. He is running in for the ball and has it be- 



118 BASK-BAI.I,. 

fore him all the time, while the in-fielder, running 
out, is apt to get twisted up and in bad shape to make 
the catch. 

Out-fielders, like in- fielders, must change position 
to correspond with the direction the batsman is likely 
to hit. For instance, there are some men who are 
never known to hit to right field, and for such the 
entire out-field moves toward the left field, the right 
fielder going almost to centre, the centre fielder to 
left centre, and the left fielder close to the foul-line. 
When the fielder knows the batsman, he will change 
without direction ; but in any case he should respond 
quickly to any signal from the pitcher, because the 
latter may be going to force the batter to hit in a 
particular direction. The best fielders make the 
greatest difference in the positions they play for dif- 
ferent batsmen. 

The right fielder must be on the look-out for the 
catcher's signal to throw to first or second base, be- 
cause, in order that he may get in line with the 
throw, it is necessary that he shall start when the 
pitcher begins to deliver. He cannot wait until the 
catcher throws or he will be too late to get in line. 



CHAPTER XII. 
the: battkr. 

The most unsatisfactory feature in base-ball to the 
player himself, is batting. In theory it is so simple, 
yet in practice so difficult, that one is forever finding 
fault with himself and thinking, when too late, of 
what he might have done if only he had not done 
as he did. 

Of course, the element of chance or ** luck,'' as it 
is called, enters largely into the question. The hard- 
est hit will sometimes go directly into the waiting 
hands of a fielder, while a little ' ' punk ' ' hit from 
the handle or extreme end of the bat may drop lazily 
into some unguarded spot. But, in the course of a 
season, these chances should about equalize one an- 
other, and, though fate may seem to be against a man 
for a half dozen or more games, he will be found 
finally to have benefited as much by ' ' scratch ' ' hits as 
he has lost in good, hard drives. 

The theory of batting is simplicity itself. All that 
is necessary is to wait until the ball comes over the 
plate and then hit it on a line back into the field. 
From the grand stand, nothing could be easier. To 
sit back of the catcher and see the balls come sailing 
over the plate, one will wonder why they are not hit 
out of creation, and when some player, who has al- 
lowed a couple of balls to pass directly over the plate 
without making the least attempt to hit at them, 

119 



120 BASK-BAI,!,. 

finally lets go at one that he could scarcely reach 
with a wagon tongue, much less with a 36-inch 
bat, the spectator is likely to question the fellow's 
sanity. It is amusing to sit in a base-ball crowd and 
hear the remarks. There are more good batters and 
umpires and all-round ball players in the grand stand 
within one's hearing, than are to be found in both 
the contesting teams. 

It would be more amusing still if some of these 
prodigies could be lifted out of their seats and taken 
down into the field, and, with a bat in hand, made to 
face some first-class pitcher until they had hit the 
ball just once. They would be surprised to see how 
differently it looks. At a distance of only fifty feet 
from a man who can throw a ball like a streak of 
lightning, or with the same apparent motion, send it 
so slowly that one will think it is never going to 
reach him, who can curve it in or out, up or down, 
the question of hitting the ball at all becomes one of 
some doubt, to say nothing of ''base hits." And 
then, add to this the danger of a swift, wild pitch 
carrying away an arm or bur3dng itself in the bats- 
man's stomach, and the difficulty is greatly increased. 
Just think of it for a moment. A player who can 
throw a ball, say one hundred and sixteen and two- 
thirds yards, goes into the pitcher's box and from a 
distance of only sixteen "and two-thirds yards throws 
the ball to the batter with all speed. If the throw is 
wild and the ball hits the batter it strikes him with a 
force that would have been sufficient to carry the ball 
one hundred yards further. It would be interesting 
to know just how many mule power there is behind 
such a blow. There are a few moments after a man 



THK BATTKR. 121 

has been hit during which he wishes he had never 
seen a base-ball, and for the next couple of games, at 
least, he will think more of escaping a recurrence of 
the accident than of hitting the ball. Hines, of In- 
dianapolis, has already been hit on the head this sea- 
son by one of the Chicago pitchers, and the result is 
a long, ragged-looking scar that he will always carr3^ 
An inch lower, and the blow might have cost him his 
life. 

The first consideration in learning to bat is to ac- 
quire the proper form. By this is not meant the 
position to be assumed while waiting for the pitch, 
because each batter may, and generally does have 
his distinctive style. But when in the ad of hitting 
there is a certain form to be observed, and this, in its 
salient points, is the same with all good batters. 

Standing within easy reach of the plate, the batter 
should hold his bat read}^ to hit a breast-high ball. 
It is easier to hit a low ball when expecting a high 
one than to hit a high ball when a low one was ex- 
pected, for the reason that it is easier to drop the bat 
quickly and swing underhand than it is to elevate it 
and chop overhand. When the ball is pitched he 
should not move until he has seen where the ball is 
going. Not until in the act of swinging his bat 
should he step forward, and then his step should be 
short, and, generally, directly toward the pitcher. 
When he hits, the body should be held erect and 
flung slightly forward, so that when the bat meets 
the ball the weight is principally on \h^ forwardiooX,. 

If he steps too soon, his position is taken and he 
cannot change it to suit any slight miscalculation he 
may have made in the speed or direction of the ball. 



122 BASK-BAI,!,. 

Neither should he make too long a stride, for the 
same reasons given in the preceding paragraph, and 
also because it puts him in bad form to hit at a high 
ball. 

He should generally step directly toward the pitcher, 
unless he has special reasons for doing otherwise 
For instance, if a right-hand hitter wishes to hit to 
left-field, he had better step so as to face slightly in 
that direction ; and if he wishes to hit to right-field, 
he will stand farther from the plate and step in with 
the left foot so as to face somewhat in the direction 
he intends to hit. 

The object in standing erect is to keep well the 
balance and be in a position to cut under or over at 
a low or high ball. The body is thrown slightly for- 
ward so that the weight and force of the body may 
be given to the stroke. It is not necessary to hit 
hard, but solidly, and this is done not so much by 
the swing of the arms as by the push and weight of 
the shoulder behind it. 

The accompanying cut of Ewing is an excel- 
lent representation of a batter, in the act of hit- 
ting. He not only swings the bat with the arms, 
but pushes it with the weight of the shoulders. The 
position is a picture of strength. 

In hitting at a high ball the bat should be swung 
overhand, in an almost perpendicular plane, and so, 
also, for a low ball, the batter should stand erect and 
cut underhand. If the bat is swung in a horizontal 
plane the least miscalculation in the height of the 
ball will be fatal. If it strikes above or below the 
centre line of the bat, it will be driven either up into 
the air or down to the ground. Whereas, if the bat 



THK BATTKR. 



123 



is swung perpendicularly, the same mistake will only 
cause it to strike a little farther up or down on the 
bat, but still on the centre line, and if it misses the 
centre line it will be thrown off toward first or third, 
instead of up or down. 

There are two classes of good batters whose styles 




WIIyl^IAM EWING. 

of hitting are so different that they may be said to be 
distinct. ,;_ The one, comprising such hitters as Con- 
nor, Brouthers, Tiernan, Wise, Fogarty, Whitney, 
Ryan, Denny, and Fred Carroll, use the full length 
of the bat, and in addition to the push of the shoul- 
ders make a decided swing at the ball. In the other, 



124 BASK-BALI.. 

in which are Anson, Kelly, Dunlap, and a few 
others, the motion is more of a push than a swing. 
Anson, who, if not the best batter in the country, is 
certainly the surest, seldom does anything but push 
the bat against the ball, only occasionally making 
what might be called a swing. Many of the latter 
class grasp the bat up short, and some of them keep 
the hands a few inches apart. If I were advising a 
novice which style to learn I should say the latter, 
because it is the surer, though such batters seldom 
hit as hard as the others. 

Every ball player who pretends to play the game 
with his brain as well as with his body, should be 
able to hit in whatever direction he wishes. It may 
not be always possible to hit in the exact direction 
desired, and, of course, he cannot "place " the ball in 
any particular spot, but he can and should be able to 
hit either to left field or right, as the occasion demands. 
The advantage of this to the player himself and to 
his team cannot be overestimated. For example, 
there is a runner on first who signals to the batter 
that he will try to steal second on the second ball 
pitched. When he starts to run the second baseman 
goes for his base and the entire field between first and 
vSecond is left open. Now, if the batter gets a ball 
anywhere within reach and taps it down toward right 
field, the chances are that it will be safe, and the run- 
ner from first will keep right on to third. Often- 
times, too, the batter himself will reach second on the 
throw from right field to third to catch the runner 
ahead of him. Here, now, by a little head-work, are 
runners on third and second, whereas, an attempt to 
smash the ball, trusting to luck as to where it should 



THE BATTER. 125 

go, might have resulted in a double play or at least 
one man out and no advantage gained. Many a game 
is won by such scientific work, and the club that 
can do the most of it, day after day, will come in the 
winners in the finish. 

When a batter is known as one who will attempt a 
play of this kind, it is usual for the second baseman 
to play well over into right field, allowing the second 
to be covered by the short-stop. When the batter dis- 
covers such a scheme to catch him he should con- 
tinue to face toward right field, in order not to betray 
his intend* on, but when the ball is pitched, he should 
turn and hit toward left field. If the short-stop has 
gone to take the base, the space between second and 
third is left open just as the other side was. 

A great fault with many batters is that they try 
to hit the ball too hard. This is especially true of the 
younger players, the ^' colts,'' as they are called. A 
young player with a reputation as a hitter in some 
minor league, goes into a big club and at once thinks 
he must hit the ball over the fence. The result is 
that he doesn't hit it at all, and unless he corrects his 
fault, he goes on " fanning the atmosphere " until he 
is handed his release. And yet the same player, if 
he would steady himself down and once get started 
hitting might do just as well as he did in his former 
club. 

And this brings up the reflection that there is a 
great virtue in confidence. The player who goes tim- 
idly to the bat with his mind made up that he can't 
hit, anyhow, might just as well keep his seat. But 
the one who walks up, saying to himself, ''Other 
men hit this ball, and lean, too," will be inspired 



126 BASE^-BAI.!.. 

b}^ his own confidence, and for that very reason he 
will be more likely to hit. So it is that batting 
goes so much by streaks. A nine that has not made 
a hit for several innings will suddenly start in and 
bat out a victory. One player leads off with a good 
hit and is followed by another and another, each 
benefited by the confidence and enthusiasm the pre- 
ceding batters have aroused. 

It goes without saying that the player's eyesight 
must be perfect or he can never hope to be a good 
batter. It requires the keenest kind of an eye to 
keep track of the ball and tell when it is over the 
plate and at the proper height. 

So, too, the nerves must be kept in good condition 
or the player will be unable to resist the temptation 
to hit at wide balls. A nervous batter is easily 
"worked," because he is so anxious to hit that he 
can't wait for a good ball. * 

But the most important attribute of all in the com- 
position of a good batter is courage. In this term I 
include the self-control and the resolution by which a 
man will force himself to stand before the swiftest 
and wildest pitching without flinching, the fearless- 
ness that can contemplate the probability of a blow 
from the ball without allowing the judgment to be 
affected. Out of ten poor batters nine are so because 
they are afraid of being hit. It is often asked, ' ' Why 
are pitchers, as a rule, such poor batters?" and to 
this the answer in my own mind has always been 
that it is because they know so well the danger which 
the batter incurs. There is perhaps no such thing 
as absolute fearlessness ; the batter who has once 
been hit hard — and all of them have — will never quite 



THB BATTKR. 127 

forget the occurrence, and he will forever after have 
the respect for the ball that a burned child has for 
the fire. But some men will not allow this feeling to 
overcome them. 

It is absolutely necessary, then, to first conquer 
one's self, to fight down fear and forget everything 
except that the ball must be hit. To some, this 
seems not a difiicult matter, to many it comes only 
after the most determined effort and schooling of the 
nerves, while to a few it seems to be an utter impos- 
sibility. The instinct of self-preservation is such a 
controlling power with them that unconsciously they 
draw away from the ball, and, try as they will, they 
cannot stand up to the plate. The player who can- 
not overcome this feeling will never be a good hitter, 
though when he finds that he is a victim he should 
not give up without a struggle. Some players have 
broken themselves of the habit of running aw^ay from 
the plate by stepping back with the rear foot, instead 
of forward with the forward foot, when in the act of 
hitting. Thompson, of Detroit, w^ho is a remarkably 
good hitter, steps backward instead of forward. 
Others, like Hecker, of lyouisville, step neither way, 
but hit as they stand, simply throwing the body 
forward Every expedient should be tried before 
the case is given up as incurable. In my own 
case I was forced to change from right to left-hand 
hitting. I had been hit so hard several times that I 
grew afraid of the ball and contracted the habit of 
stepping away from the plate. It was a nervous fear 
over which I had no control, and the habit became 
so confirmed that I resolved to turn around left- 
handed. I thought that in learning to hit the new 



128 BASK-BAI.I.. 

way I could avoid the mistakes into which I had be- 
fore fallen. It took time and practice to learn, but 
the result, I think, has been an improvement. 
While not able to hit so hard left-handed, because 
the muscles are not yet so strong, I make more single 
hits, reach first base oftener, and score more runs. 



CHAPTER XIII, 

THK BASK-RUNNKR. 

Of the four departments of play, batting, base-run- 
ning, fielding, and battery work, the most interest- 
ing is base-running. It is the most skillful, it calls 
into play the keenest perception and the soundest 
judgment, it demands agility and speed, and it re- 
quires more daring, courage, and enthusiasm than 
all the others combined. 

Its importance as a factor in winning games can- 
not be estimated. We only know that a team of 
base-runners wins game after game in w^hich it is out- 
batted and out-fielded b}^ its opponents. No system 
of scoring has been or can be devised by which a full 
record of this kind of work can be kept. The sys- 
tem now in vogue, crediting the number of bases 
stolen, is all right so far as it goes, but it covers only 
a small part of the ground. Stealing bases is a part 
of base-running, but it is a very small part, and to 
say that the player who steals the most bases is there- 
fore the best base-runner, is an altogether unwar- 
ranted statement. A quick starter, speedy runner, 
and clever slider might easily steal the most bases, 
and yet in general usefulness fall far behind some 
other player. 

Beginning with the more mechanical features, the 

first qualification for a base-runner is the ability to 

start quickly. The distances on a ball field have 

been laid out with such marvelous nicety that every 

9 129 



130 BASE-BAI,I,. 

fraction of a second is valuable. Almost every play 
is close, and the loss of an instant of time is often the 
loss of the opportunity. 

But to start quickly means more than a quick 
action of the muscles ; it means also that the brain 
and body must act together. The base-runner who 
must wait to be told what to do will always be too 
late. By .the time the coacher has seen the point 
and called to the runner and the latter has gotten 
himself into action, the chance has long passed. The 
player must be able to see the play himself and act 
upon it instantly, without waiting to be told. 

Different runners adopt different methods for get- 
ting a long start from a base. Some take as much 
ground as possible before the pitch and then start 
the moment they see the first motion to deliver. 
Others stand near the base, and when they think it 
about time for the pitcher to pitch make a start. If 
they happen to guess aright they get a running start, 
which is, of course, a great advantage. And if they 
guess wrong, the pitcher is so taken by surprise that 
it is always possible to return to the base before he 
can throw. Of the two methods I prefer the latter. 
Remaining near the base disarms suspicion, and the 
runner is not tired out, by repeated feints to throw, on 
the part of the pitcher. 

In either case the practice of standing with the 
feet wide apart is altogether wrong and in violation 
of eve^y principle of quick starting. Unlike a sprin- 
ter, a base-runner must be in shape to start in either 
direction, and this can be done best and quickest by 
standing upright with the feet almost together. 

A second qualification is speed. While, as before 



THK base-runner/ 131 

said, mere speed will not make a base-runner, in the 
full sense of the term, yet, other things being equal, the 
faster runner will be the better base-runner. Straight 
away running is something to which ball players do 
not devote sufficient attention. While, to a certain 
extent, it is a natural gift, yet every man can improve 
himself greatly by practice, and if the spring training 
of players included more of this work, the result 
would certainly be an improvement in the base-run- 
ning. Notwithstanding the importance of starting 
and running and sliding, there is absolutely no at- 
tention given these matters, and, consequently, the 
majority of players seem to be entirely ignorant of 
the proper '' form." It would be a good investment 
for some clubs to employ a professional sprinter to 
teach their men how to stand, in order to start 
quickly, and how to put one foot in front of the other 
in the approved form. 

An important aid also to successful base-running 
is the knack of sliding well. A player skillful in 
this respect will often save himself when he seems 
caught beyond escape. Every runner should know 
how to slide if he expects to accomplish anything at 
all, and every man will slide who has the proper in- 
terest in his work. Some players do not do so be- 
cause they have never learned and are afraid to try, 
while others seem to care so little for the team's suc- 
cess that they are unwilling to take the chances of 
injury to themselves. As for the former class, a half 
hour's practice on sawdust or soft earth will show 
them how easily it is learned, and as for the latter, 
they should be made to slide, even if it be found nec- 
essary to persuade them through their pockets. 



132 BASK-BALI.. 

Sliding, as an art, is of recent growth, though it 
has long been the practice of base-runners to drop to 
avoid being touched. In view of its present import- 
ance it is amusing to read, in an article written on the 
subject some years ago, an argument against the 
practice indulged in by a few players of sliding to the 
base in order to avoid being touched by the ball. 

The old style of sliding was with the feet foremost, 
but there are now various methods employed. Many 
runners now slide head foremost, throwing them- 
selves flat on the breast and stomach. Some keep 
to the base-line and slide direct for the base, while 
others throw the body and legs out of the line and 
reach for the base with a hand or foot. Among those 
who always slide feet first and direct for the base, 
Hanlon is the most successful. He doesn't go down 
until quite close to the base, and then does not at all 
slacken his speed. Connor also slides feet foremost, 
but instead of throwing himself at full length, he 
maintains a sitting posture, and each of his slides is 
the signal for a laugh from the crowd. On account 
of his size and the weight behind his spikes, he is 
always given the entire base-line without dispute. 
Williamson is a very successful slider. He runs at 
full speed until near the base and then throws his 
body away from the baseman and his feet at the base. 
The successful runners who slide flat on the stomach 
are Fogarty, Tiernan, Miller, Andrews, Brown and 
others. Of those who go in head foremost but 
throw the body out of the line and away from the 
baseman, are Ewing, Glasscock, Pfeffer, Dalrymple 
and some others. 

An expert base-runner will confine himself to no 



THE BASK-RUNNKR. 133 

particular style, but, being familiar with all, will use, 
in each instance, the one best suited. Sometimes one 
style is best and sometimes another, depending upon 
where the ball is thrown and the position of the base- 
man/ I consider Kelly the best all-round slider in 
the lycague, because he can, and does, use every style 
with equal freedom. 7 

The American Association has some of the finest 
runners in NicoU, Latham, Stovey, Purcell, and 
many others, but I have, unfortunately, not seen 
enough of their work to speak accurately of their 
methods. 

Though stealing bases is only a part of base-run- 
ning, yet even this requires considerable skill, and it 
is by no means always the fastest runner who suc- 
ceeds the oftenest. Much depends on the start, and 
much, too, on the slide. I may be permitted to out- 
line my own method : Having reached first, I sig- 
nal to the next batter when I am going to steal. 
Then, standing near the base, well upright and with 
my feet together, I try to get a running start on the 
pitcher ; that is, when I think he is about to pitch, 
though he has yet made no motion, I make my start. 
If he does pitch I get all the ground that I would 
have had by playing oiF the base in the first place, 
and I have, besides, the advantage of being on the 
move. Every one who knows anything of sprinting 
will appreciate the advantages of such a start. If 
the pitcher does not pitch I usually manage to re- 
turn to the base in safety. Having secured my start, I 
expect that the batter will hit the ball, if it is a good 
one, into right-field, in which case I will keep right 
on to third base ; or, if it is a bad ball, the batter 



134 BASK-BAI,!,. 

will at east hit at it, in order, if possible, to blind the 
catcher and help me out. In any event I put down 
my head and run direct for the base, and in no case do 
I attempt to watch the ball. It is a foolish and often 
fatal mistake for a runner to keep his head turned 
toward the catcher while running in another di- 
rection. If the ball is hit I listen for the coacher's 
direction, but if it is not, I keep my eye on the base- 
man, and by watching his movements, the expres- 
sion of his face, and the direction he is looking, I 
can tell as certainly just where the throw is go- 
ing as though I saw the ball. If he stands in 
front of the line I run back of him, and if he is back 
of the line I slide in front. In every case, and 
whether I go in head or feet foremost, I throw my 
body away from the baseman so as to give him the 
least possible surface to touch with the ball. 

There is an advantage in sliding head foremost, in 
that the runner, by falling forward, gains the length 
of his body and the reach of his arm, whereas, in 
sliding feet foremost, he loses this. But if one always 
goes in head foremost, the baseman, knowing what 
to expect and standing in no fear of injury, will block 
the base-line. It seems necessary to occasionally 
throw the spikes in first in order to retain one's right 
to the line and command a proper respect from op- 
posing basemen. 

In order that the runner may not be continually 
cut and bruised by gravel or rough ground he should 
protect his hips and knees by pads. Some have the 
padding stitched to the inside of the pants, and for 
the knees this is the better plan, though it interferes 
somewhat with the washing of the uniform. But for 



the: bask-runne;r. 135 

the hips I prefer the separate pads, which may be 
bought at any store for the sale of base-ball goods. 
The best make is buttoned to a strap which binds 
tightly the lower portion of the body, and this latter 
feature is itself of great advantage ; not only as a mat- 
ter of comfort and safety, but also for the sake of 
decency, every player should wear one of these straps, 
the same as athletes do in other branches of sport 

But, after all, the important factors in successful 
base-running are yet to be spoken of, and the forego- 
ing points are merely mechanical aids. There is no 
other department of play in which intelligence plays 
so important a part, and no matter how clever the 
player as a starter, runner, or slider, these faculties 
will be of little value unless directed by a quick per- 
ception and sound judgment. Indeed, they will often 
serve only as traps to lead him into difl&culty. 

By its very nature a quick perception is an inborn 
faculty of the mind, and while it may be developed 
by constant use, no amount of coaching can create 
it. There are some players who are no more capable 
of becoming good base-runners than of living under 
water, so unfitted are they by nature. The power of 
grasping a situation and acting upon it at once is 
something which cannot be taught. 

In order, however, to know when a fair opportunity 
presents itself, the runner must be familiar with the 
chances of play, and this comes only from experience 
and close observation. A runner who is thoroughly 
alive to all the possibilities of the game will see a 
chance and gain a point where another of less ready 
perception would find no opening. The former has 
learned to marshall at a glance all the attendant 



136 BASK-BAI.I.. 

probabilities and possibilities and to estimate, in the 
same instant, the chances of success or failure. 

It is not, however, always best to accept an oppor- 
tunity when presented, even where the chances of 
success are largely in the runner's favor. The stages 
of the game must be taken into consideration, and 
what may be a perfectly commendable play in one 
situation may be altogether reckless and foolhardy in 
another. Therefore, the most important faculty of 
all, the pendulum which regulates, and the rudder 
which guides, is judgment. An illustration may 
make my meaning clear. In the ninth inning, with 
a runner on first base and the score a tie, it may be 
a good play for the runner to attempt to steal second, 
because from there a single hit may send him home. 
But suppose that, instead of the score being a tie, the 
side at bat is four or five runs behind, of what pos- 
sible use will the steal be now, even if successful ? 
One run will do no good, and the only chance of vic- 
tory is in the following batters also getting around 
the bases. But the hits or errors by which this must 
be accomplished will also send the first runner home 
without a steal, so that in attempting to steal he 
takes a chance which is of no advantage if successful, 
and perhaps a fatal mistake if not. 

Again, suppose there is a runner on third and none 
oiit and the batter hits a short fly to the out-field, on 
the catch of which it is doubtful whether the runner 
can score. If the next batter is a good hitter, he 
will not make the attempt, trusting to the next hit 
for a better chance. But if the next batter is weak 
and not likely to offer as good a chance he may de- 
cide to try for the run on the small chance already 



THK BASK-RUNNKR. 137 

presented. These are only given as examples and 
they might be multiplied, because the same problem 
will always present itself in a more or less imperative 
form ever}^ time the runner has a play to make. 
The question he must always decide is, '' Is this the 
best play, everything considered ?" It goes without 
saying that he must answer this for himself. 

In conclusion, I will describe some plays that may 
arise and venture some observations, running through 
which the reader may discern the general principles 
of base-running. 

There is an element in base-ball which is neither 
skill nor chance, and yet it is a most important 
factor of success. It is the unseen influence that 
wins in the face of the greatest odds. It is the 
element, the presence of which in a team is often 
called "luck," and its absence a ''lack of nerve." 
It is sometimes spoken of as ''young blood," be- 
cause the younger players, as a general rule, are 
more susceptible to its influence. Its real name is 
enthusiasm, and it is the factor, in the influence of 
which, is to be found the true explanation of the 
curious standing of some clubs. Between two teams 
of equal or unequal strength the more enthusiastic 
will generally win. The field work may be slow and 
steady, but at the bat and on the bases there must 
be dash and vim. 

If, for example, it be found that a catcher is a poor 
thrower, or a pitcher slow in his movements, every 
fair runner reaching first should immediately attempt 
to steal second, and even third. This style of play 
will demoralize an opposing team quicker than any- 
thing else, and even if unsuccessful at first, and the first 



138 base;-bai,i,. 

tew runners be caught, it should still be kept up for a 
couple of innings, because it will, at least, affect the 
nerves of some of the opposing players, and if a 
break does come, the victory will be an easy one. 
Every batter should be ready to take his place 
quickly at the bat, and hit at the first good ball ; 
every runner should be on the move ; and with plenty 
of coaching, and everybody full of enthusiasm, it is 
only necessary to get the run-getting started in 
order to have it go right along. This is the game 
that is winning in base-ball to-day, as every ob- 
servant spectator knows. 

Base-running begins the moment the ball is hit. 
There are some players who don't know how to drop 
their bats and get away from the plate. Some stand 
until they see whether the hit is safe, and they run to 
first with the head twisted around to watch the ball. 
The instant the ball is hit, no matter where it goes^ 
the batter should drop the bat and start for the base ; 
leaving the ball to take care of itself, he should put 
down his head and run, looking neither to the right 
nor the left. Every foot gained may be of vital im- 
portance, for in most cases the runner is thrown out 
by the distance of only a few feet. 

Some runners make a mistake in jumping for the 
base with the last step. It not only loses time but 
makes the decision so plain to the umpire that the 
runner fails to receive his fair share of benefit from 
close plays. 

A runner to first on a base hit or fly to the out- 
field should always turn first base and lead v^^ell 
down toward second, so that if the ball is fum- 
bled or handled slowly or missed, he may be able to 



THK base:-runnkr. 139 

reach second. And by hurrying the out-fielder he 
increases the probabiUty of an error. 

A runner should always run at the top of his speed, 
except in the single case where he feels himself to be 
clearly within reach of his base and then slackens up 
in order to draw the throw. 

Z At no other time is there anything to be gained by 
slow running, and often there is much to be lost. In 
the game spoken of elsewhere in this book, between 
Providence and Chicago, which virtually decided the 
championship for 1882, Hines was on first when Joe 
Start hit what looked like a home-run over the cen- 
tre-field fence. The wind caught the ball and held 
it back so that it struck the top of the netting and 
fell back into the field. Hines, thinking the hit per- 
fectly safe, was jogging around the bases when the 
ball was returned to the in-field. Start had run fast 
and overtaken Hines, and the result was that instead 
of a run scored, a man on third and no one out, both 
runners were put out and we lost the game by one 
run, and the championship by that one game. A 
player has no right to '' think this or that ;" his sole 
duty is to run hard until the play is over. 7 

When a runner is on first and a hit is made he 
should run fast to second, and if possible force the 
throw to third. Every such throw offers an oppor- 
tunity for error, and the more of these the runner 
can force the more chances there wdll be in his favor 
By getting quickly to second he is in a position to go 
on to third if the ball is fumbled or slowly handled, 
or returned to the wrong point on the in-field. 

So, too, a runner on second, when a hit is made, 
should always force the throw to the home plate, 



140 BASK-BAI,!,. 

even if he does not intend to try for the run. In 
order to do this he must run hard to third and turn 
the base as though he really meant to go home. 
Any hesitation or looking around will fail of the 
object. The throw home gives the player who hit 
the ball a chance to reach second base. 

In a game where there is plenty of hitting runners 
should obviously take fewer chances than where the 
hitting is light. 

It is usually advisable for a good runner, who has 
reached first with two men out, to attempt to steal 
second, because then one hit will likely bring him 
home ; whereas if he stays on first it will require two 
hits, or two errors in succession, and these are not 
likely to come, with two men already out. 

The only times to steal third are, first, when. there 
is only one out, for then a hit, a sacrifice, or a long 
fly will score the run. If there is no one out, the 
chances are that a runner on second will eventually 
score anyhow, and if there are two out there is little 
advantage gained by stealing third. It still requires 
a hit or an error to score the run, and the same would 
probably score it from second as easily as from third. 
Second, it may sometimes be advisable for a run- 
ner on second base to steal third, even when there 
are two out, provided there is also a runner on first. 
-Because, if successful, the runner on first also gets to 
second, and the result is two stolen bases from the 
one chance, and a hit will now likely score two runs 
instead of one. 

When there is a runner on second or third, with 
no more than one out, and the batter makes what is 
apparently a long, safe hit, the runner should hold 



THE BASE-RUNNKR. 141 

the base until he has seen, beyond a doubt, that the 
hit is safe. If safe, he will still have ample time to 
reach home, while if, by any chance, it be caught, he 
will nevertheless get third or home, as the case may 
be. A couple of seasons back a New York runner 
was on third, with no one out, when the batter made 
what looked like a home-run hit. The runner on 
third, instead of waiting to make sure, started home ; 
the ball was caught and, though he managed to 
return to third, he did not score, as he otherwise 
might easily have done. The next two batters went 
out, the score was left a tie, and we finally lost an 
important game. 

Succeeding base-runners should have private sig- 
nals so that they may communicate their intentions 
without apprising the opposing players. A runner 
on first who intends to steal second should inform 
the batter, so that the batter may hit the ball, or at 
least strike at it. A runner on second should notify 
a runner on first of his intention to steal third, so 
that the other may at the same time steal second. 
When there are runners on first and third each should 
understand perfectly what the other purposes do- 
ing so they can help one another with the play. 

In such a situation the runner on first will gener- 
ally attempt to steal second, and if the catcher throws 
down to catch him there are several things which the 
runner on third may do. First, as soon as he sees 
the throw to second he may start for home, and if he 
has previously decided to do this, he should take 
plenty of ground from third base. Second, he may 
not start for home on the throw, but if the runner 
from first gets caught between first and second, it will 



142 BASK-BAI,!,. 

then be necessary for him to try to score. For this 
purpose he carefully takes as much ground from third 
as possible, while the other player is being chased 
backward and forward. Finally, when the ball is 
tossed by the second baseman to the first baseman, 
he makes a dash for home. The idea of waiting until 
the ball is thrown to the first baseman is because the 
latter has his back to the plate, and not only cannot 
see the play so well but must turn around to throw. 
Third, if the circumstances are such that he thinks 
best not to try to score on the throw, he should, at 
least, on seeing the throw to second, make a strong 
feint to run in order to draw the second baseman in 
and allow the runner from first to reach second. 

There is a pretty play by which one run may be 
scored when there are runners on first and second. It is, 
however, a desperate chance and should only be re- 
sorted to in an extremity. The runner on first leads oif 
the base so far as to draw the throw from the catcher, 
and, seeing the throw, the runner on second goes to 
third. Then, while the first runner is playing be- 
tween first and second, the runner now on third scores 
as described in the preceding play, waiting until the 
ball is passed to the first baseman. If the second 
baseman is a poor thrower it may be best to make the 
dash for home when the ball is thrown to him. 

A runner on second may receive a signal from the 
batsman that the latter intends to try a ' ' bunt, ' ' in 
which case the runner will try to steal third. If the 
bunt is made the runner reaches third, but if the bunt 
does not succeed, the attempt draws the third base- 
man in close and leaves the base uncovered for the 
runner. 



THE BASK-RUNNKR. 143 

Without particularizing further, it will be seen 
that a base-runner must not only have some wits but 
he must have them always with him. Exactly the 
same combinations never come up, new ones are 
continually being presented, and in every case he 
must decide for himself what is best. In view of all 
the circumstances, he makes a quick mental estimate 
of ttie chances and acts accordingly. Sometimes for- 
tune will be against him, but if his judgment is 
sound he is sure to be successful in the majority of 
attempts. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

CURVK PITCHING. 

Curve pitching is a scientific fact, the practice of 
which preceded the discovery of its principle. For 
a long time after its existence was familiar to every 
ball-player and spectator of the game, there were 
wise men who proclaimed its impossibility, who de- 
clared it to be simply an " optical delusion," and its 
believers the victims of the pitcher's trickery. It 
was only after the curve had been practically demon- 
strated to them, in a way which left no room for 
doubt, that they consented to find for it a scientific 
explanation. 

The discovery of the curve itself was purely an 
accident. During the 3^ears from 1866 to 1869 the 
theory was held by many pitchers that the more 
twist imparted to a pitched ball, the more difficult it 
would be to hit it straight out. It was thought that 
even if it were struck fairl}^, this twist would throw it 
off at an angle to the swing of the bat. One writer on 
the game declared strongly against this practice of the 
pitchers on the ground that, though this twist did do 
all that was claimed for it, it at the same time caused 
the ball, when hit, to bound badly, and thus interfered 
with good fielding. Of course, both of these theories 
become absurd in the light of the present, but it was 
doubtless the belief in the former that led to the in- 
troduction of the curve. In 1869 Arthur Cummings, 
pitching for the Star Club, noticed that by giving a 
144 



CURVE PITCHING. 



145 



certain twist to the ball it was made to describe a ris- 
ing, outward curve, and his remarkable success with 
the new delivery soon led to its imitation by other 
pitchers, and finally to the general introduction of 
cur\^e pitching. 

The philosophy of the curve is, in itself, quite 
simple A ball is thrown through the air and, at the 




same time, given a rotary motion upon its own axis, 
so that the resistance of the air, to its forward motion, 
is greater upon one point than upon another, and the 
result is a movement of the ball away from the re- 
tarded side. Suppose the ball in the accompanying 
cut to be moving in the direction of the arrow, B C, 
at the rate of loo feet per second. Suppose, also, 
10 



146 BASK-BAI.Iv. 

that it is rotating about its vertical axis, E, in the 
direction of I to H, so that any point on its circum- 
ference, I H D, is moving at the same rate of loofeet 
per second. The point I is, therefore, moving for- 
ward at the same rate as the ball's centre of gravity, 
that is, I GO feet per second, plus the rate of its own 
revolution, which is loo feet more, or 200 feet per 
second ; but the point D, though moving forward 
with the ball at the rate of 100 feet per second, is 
moving backward the rate of rotation, which is 100 
feet per second, so that the forward motion of the 
point D is practically zero. At the point I, therefore, 
the resistance is to a point moving 200 feet per 
second, while at D it is zero, and the tendency of the 
ball being to avoid the greatest resistance, it is de- 
flected in the direction of F» 

In the Scientific Avterican of August 28th, 1886, a 
correspondent gave a very explicit demonstration of 
the theory of the curve, and, as it has the virtue of 
being more scientific than the one given above, I 
append it in full. 

*' J>t Fig. 3 represent a ball moving through the 
air in the direction of the arrow, B K, and at the same 
time revolving about its vertical axis, U, in the di- 
rection of the curved arrow, C. I^et AAA repre- 
sent the retarding action of the air acting on different 
points of the forward half or face of the ball. The 
rotary motion, C, generates a current of air about the 
periphery of the ball, a current similar to that caused 
by the revolving flywheel of a steam engine. 

' * If, now, at a point on the face of the ball we let 
the arrow, R, represent the direction and intensity of 
this rotary curre7it of air, and if at the same point we 



curve; pitching. 



147 



let the arrow, A, represent the direction and intensity 
of the retarding action of the air, then we will find 
by constructing a parallelogram of forces that the re- 
sultant or combined effect of these two currents acts 
in the direction indicated by the dotted arrow, T. 
In other words, we have a sort of compression, or 




n^.B. 



force of air, acting on the face of the ball in the di- 
rection indicated by the arrow, T. This force, as we 
can readily see, tends, when combined with the 
original impetus given to the ball, to deflect or cause 
the ball to curve in the direction of the dotted line, 
B P, instead of maintaining its right line direction, 
B K. If the ball rotate about its vert axis in the 



148 BASK-BAI.I.. 

Opposite direction, the curve, B N, will be the 
result. '^ 

To the above demonstrations it is only necessary 
to add an explanation of one other feature. The 
question has arisen why it is that the ball apparently 
goes a part of its course in a straight line and then 
turns off abruptly. One might suppose at first 
thought that the greater speed at the beginning 
would create the greater resistance and consequently 
cause the greatest deflection. This, however, is not 
true. The difference between the resistance upon 
opposite points of the ball in the circumference of 
its rotation always reinatns the same, no matter how 
great the force of propulsion, and therefore the in- 
creased force of the latter at the beginning has no 
effect on the curve. But while the force of the twist 
itself is not affected by the rate of the forward move- 
ment, its effect upon the ball is greatly nullified. 
The force of propulsion being so great at first, drives 
the ball through the air and prevents it from being 
influenced by the unequal resistance. It is only when 
the two forces approach one another in strength that 
the latter begins to have a perceptible effect. As 
soon, however, as it does, and the course of the ball 
begins to change, the direction of the dotted arrow, 
T, begins to change likewise. It follows the course 
of the ball around, and the more it curves the more 
this resultant force tends to make it curve, and this 
continues until the ball has lost either its twist or its 
forward motion. 

Having established the fact that a ball will curve 
in the direction of the least resistance, it is only nec- 
essary to alter the direction of the axis of rotation 



CURVE PITCHING. 149 

in order to change the direction of the curve. Thus, 
if in the cut first given the ball were rotating in the 
direction of D H I instead of I H D, the ball would 
curve, not toward F, but to the right. So, also, if the 
axis of rotation is horizontal instead of vertical, and 
the greatest resistance is made to come on top, the 
ball will curve downward, or ''drop.'' And in the 
same way, by imparting such a twist that the resist- 
ance falls on some intermediate point the ball may be 
made to take any of the combination curves known 
as the ''outward drop," the "rising out-curve," and 
so on through the entire category. 



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